Relating plants to consumers

As you’re hashing out the details for promoting your products in 2011, I thought you’d be interested to learn insights from Marshall Dirks at Proven Winners and Anna Ball at Ball Horticultural Co. Both spoke at the recent Northeast Greenhouse Conference in Worcester, Mass., on trends that our industry should be aware of, and how these trends might impact sales of our products.

Getting in the face, mind of consumers
Dirks, Proven Winners’ director of marketing, pointed out the obvious. For most companies it’s “business as unusual.” Companies are operating with fewer people and resources, and spending less on marketing. It’s human nature to resist change. But Dirks said people need to move with culture and be willing to take chances.

Most people live in cities. But Dirks said rural consumers have the same product and service expectations as city dwellers, including convenience and ways to save time. He said consumers need solutions such as smaller gardens for people with limited gardening space.

With less money available to spend on marketing, Dirks said companies can do more guerilla marketing. He cited a Kansas City garden center that places “Your Plants are Beautiful” door hangers on the homes of residents with outstanding gardens. Hand-written notes make the acknowledgement even more personal.

Dirks said companies with websites should update content daily to stay relevant. If that’s too much work, replace your website with a Facebook page. He said Facebook is where consumers want to be and companies need to hire someone who knows how to use Facebook.

Ball said sustainability needs to be the driver of innovation. Sustainability takes many forms, and companies need to relate their objectives to their employees.

Growers need to think in terms of complete transparency. Everything they do during their daily operations are done in full view of everyone. Look for the best ways to increase sustainability, such as reducing shrink in each area of the business.

The biggest challenge is making gardening easy. Ball said gardening is not intuitive like an iPhone. Even though more information is available on gardening, people find it more confusing. She said consumers are intimidated and frustrated at retail stores. She said too often our industry overestimates the knowledge of consumers.

dkuack@gie.net