Giving lip service to marketing For an industry that continually says more needs to be done to market to consumers and increase floral consumption, we sure talk a good game. At a conference last November hosted by American Floral Endowment, 42 industry leaders discussed and prioritized major industry needs and opportunities. The highest priorities were: 1. Flat consumer demand based on decreasing numbers of new customers and increased competition from other consumer products. 2. Thinning company margins in all industry segments, primarily due to increasing expenses associated with wages, health care, transportation and energy. The priorities are directly related. If growers were selling all they produced, the second priority would be of much less concern as long as the product was being sold at a profit. This would mean knowing one's costs, which isn't the case for all growers, and might be another reason for thinning margins. Even though AFE has supported the Flora Stats Consumer Tracking Study for 11 years, our industry really hasn't taken advantage of how these data can be used to increase floral consumption. AFE conference attendees said more data need to be collected on demographics, attitude and behavior of floral consumers along with more forward-looking consumer research. Our industry can continue to collect "marketing" data, which will be useful to those few companies that actually market their products. Unfortunately, the marketing that our industry needs to do is to the end consumer, and little of this is being done. Few floriculture companies are willing to make the time and financial investment. Much more than flowers If the floral industry doesn't continually tell consumers about its products and their many benefits, why should we expect consumers to spend their nondiscretionary dollars on plants and flowers rather than on going to the movies or some sporting event, video games, DVDs, perfume, jewelry and so on. As Stan Pohmer of Pohmer Consulting Group has told our industry over and over again, we're not in the plant and flower business anymore. He says we're in the fashion, decorating, lifestyle, well-being and emotion-communication business -- providing consumers with solutions. Consumers are willing to spend money on flowers, we're just not telling them often enough why to spend it. Last year's Seeley Conference at Cornell University looked at whether floriculture was relevant to consumers. Of course it's relevant to consumers. Look at how much flowers play a role in major events in people's lives like holidays, proms, weddings, anniversaries and funerals. Unfortunately, the industry is doing little to play off the strong feelings and emotions that flowers evoke during these occasions. Why can't people experience these same feelings on a more regular basis? Maybe they could if they were reminded regularly about how flowers make them feel. This year's Seeley Conference, June 26-29, continues to focus on the consumer by asking "Stayin' Alive: Can We Captivate the Elusive Consumer?" The consumer is not that elusive, she just needs to be made aware of what flowers and plants can do for her. We can continue to talk about marketing flowers, but until we as an industry are ready to put out the money to regularly advertise our product to consumers, sales will continue to decline, profit margins will remain low and more companies in all industry segments will go out of business. For more: Seeley Conference, Cornell University, 134A Plant Science Building, Ithaca, NY 14853; (607) 255-4568; fax (607) 255-9998; seeleyconference@cornell.edu; www.hort.cornell.edu/seeleyconference. Send this article to a friend Enter your e-mail address: Enter your friend's e-mail address: Click the image below to send: © 2004 Branch-Smith Publishing