Where's the beef with a national marketing program? If there's one thing every attendee should have taken home from this year's Seeley Conference on "Captivating the Elusive Consumer," it's that the floral industry has an opportunity to sell more product. A lot more product. Data collected by the Ipsos-Insight/American Floral Endowment Consumer Tracking Study and presented at the conference showed that U.S. household penetration in 2004 for all floral categories was 56.6 percent, down from 58.2 percent in 2003. It's also not much higher than the household penetration of 54.4 percent in 1993. Whether you look at the glass as half empty or half full, there's a lot of potential to sell more flowers. The study also found that the purchase occasion per buyer during 2004 was 5.2, nearly unchanged from 5.3 in 2003. In 1993, the number of purchase occasions was only slightly lower at 4.5. I would expect most of these purchases were made for holidays (i.e., Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentine's) and special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries and funerals). In terms of which type of floral products consumers purchased most often in 2004, annuals had the greatest household penetration at nearly 34 percent, followed by cut flowers (29 percent), potted flowering plants (20 percent) and foliage plants (12 percent). For all of these product categories, there was little change in household penetration between 2003 and 2004. Floral consumption in retail dollars for 2004 was $19.5 billion., up from $18.8 billion in 2003. Not too shabby for an industry of producers, many of whom believe their major competition is other producers and not the other product categories in which consumers spend nondiscretionary income. Seeing the big picture So how is the floral industry going to address this opportunity to sell more product? Will the industry continue to be fragmented in its marketing efforts with some companies supporting crop-specific programs like Plants at Work (primarily foliage), Flowers: Alive with Possibilities (fresh cuts) and America in Bloom (more focused on annuals and perennials)? These programs are the closest we have to any type of national marketing campaigns. But what percentage of the industry actually supports them? There are also brand-specific programs that have been developed and promoted nationally, regionally and locally by companies or groups of companies. Again exposure and participation in these programs are limited. Is this the right time to once again consider a national marketing program for floriculture similar to the ones operated by other agricultural commodity groups like beef and milk? Such a program was tried before in our industry with the Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut Greens Promotion and Information Order. Known as Promoflor, the program took effect in December 1994 and had Buzz the Bee as its spokesperson. Promoflor was designed to develop, maintain and expand markets of fresh cut flowers and greens. It was terminated in 1997 when 58 percent of qualified handlers voted to terminate the promotion order. This past May the Supreme Court ruled that the Beef Checkoff Program is constitutional. The beef program was established through implementation of the 1985 Beef Act. The Act imposed an assessment or checkoff on all sales and importation of cattle. Many growers continue to see their margins shrink and input costs increase. Buyers are keeping pressure on growers to hold down prices while asking for more add-ons and services. The floral industry definitely has an opportunity to expand sales of its products. The question remains whether this industry will continue to remain fragmented and shrinking in size and sales or whether it can focus on promoting itself and its products. I expect most people in this industry would consider any marketing effort, generic or branded, to be worthwhile. The more often that we can keep our products in the consumer's face and mind, the more likely she will consider purchasing those products when she sees them. 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