A Perennial Push

Back in January, Garden Center reported on a strategic partnership between Proven Winners and Walters Gardens. To kick off spring 2012, 32 Walters Gardens perennial varieties will be marketed under the Proven Winners brand name. We recently spoke with Marshall Dirks, director of marketing with Proven Winners, to get the latest details on this highly anticipated program.
 

What kinds of consumer support will accompany the perennials line?
"To begin, all our tags for the Proven Winners perennials line will be 20 percent larger than our regular tag," Dirks said. "This is a dramatic increase in size to better address how perennials are traditionally sold—with larger, more mature plants featured than our standard annual tags.

"Additionally, tags will have a unique QR code for each variety that will be fully supported online with content that is not available on a tag—such as real-time consumer rating of the plant chosen, option to get a free Gardener's Idea Book, and video content. Each of the varieties are already on our trade-focused websites and will appear on our consumer website in January 2012 as part of our new plant roll-out for the year."
 

Where will the line be promoted?
"We will include a number of the varieties in our Gardener's Idea book, which is distributed to 600,000-plus gardening consumers via their request," Dirks said. "Garden centers can purchase copies of these booklets for their customers, or Proven Winners will send it directly to their customers if they pay the postage.

"Five items have also been included in the very popular P. Allen Smith Platinum Collection for 2012—Going Bananas, Primal Scream, Autumn Frost, Banana Cream and Cheyenne Sky. Finally, 200 samples have been provided to the most prominent garden writers in the U.S. of Little Annie, Autumn Frost and Going Bananas. These were also discussed at Garden Writers Association Symposium, held at the end of August.

"With all the support and touch-points that these outreaches create, it's important that consumers can then find these varieties quickly in the garden center—therefore all Proven Winners perennial varieties will be sold with a Proven Winners white branded container."
 

Should garden centers encourage customers to "mix and match" Proven Winners selections?
"Absolutely this is an opportunity, but we realize this is a difficult concept for many to achieve," said Dirks. "We believe there is a wonderful opportunity to create a double inventory scenario where a portion of the Proven Winners perennials are in a garden center's regular perennial section/department either by color or genus, but a second section that would be devoted just to Proven Winners plants, regardless if they are annuals, shrubs or perennials —with its own merchandised table/bench."
 

What about point-of-purchase materials?
"We have on-demand bench cards that are delivered usually within 48 hours of placing an order online or by phone, and we're considering other posters and banners as needed or requested," Dirks said. "We also have P. Allen Smith Platinum Collection signs for the five new perennials in that program."