‘Focus on the occasion instead of on the product’
By Peter van Leth
pvanleth@hortipoint.nl
“Plant and flower promotions are most effective when they are linked to the special occasions on which people give flowers. There are plenty of those of course, think of birthdays, weddings and special holidays. There isn’t an occasion that can’t be linked to plants and flowers really.”
This is David Domoney speaking. A campaign like ‘out with the Christmas tree, bring in an indoor plant’ is spot on according to him, but a flower, plant or garden plant of the month isn’t really. “Established customers are still buying plants and flowers. It’s the younger generations that have to be reached. But once you have them on board, they’ll stay. They’ll have a certain vase they want to have filled with fresh flowers again and again, or a fixed place in the house for plants and if one of those plants dies, they’ll want to fill the empty space again.”
Joining forces
Domoney was the keynote speaker at Fleuroselect’s seventh International Home Garden Conference on 20 and 21 September in Stuttgart, which focused on the theme ‘consumer marketing’ this year. Domoney is a famous British TV Gardener. His programme ‘Love your Garden’ on ITV gets an average of 4 million viewers per episode, making it one of the most popular TV programmes in England.
Before he became a celebrity and entrepreneur, he cultivated and sold his own plants and he also worked with garden centres and landscape gardeners. That means he’s seen both sides of the chain and knows what matters with regards to creating demand. He’s convinced that the best results for everybody can be achieved when growers and retailers join forces. These partnerships are not really getting started, not in England and not in any other Western European countries either. “As a grower, embrace the customer’s question and help the customer to find a solution”, says Domoney.
Uncertainty after Brexit
Domoney doesn’t really like sharing his political opinions in the media and wouldn’t normally do this. But he doesn’t mind saying a little bit about Brexit. “The uncertainty of this time, both before and after Brexit, has already led to an increase of the prices for plants and flowers. This is mostly caused by the exchange rate between the pound and the euro. The demand for plants and flowers hasn’t really gone down. And English imports have pretty much remained the same. So, local growers haven’t yet started to supply the plants and flowers that normally come from abroad,” says Domoney.
And even though he felt that Brexit was a shock, he does accept the event as a fact now. But he thinks it would be a bad idea for other European countries to follow Great Britain’s example. That would increase the uncertainty in Europe even further. “Who knows what will happen then.”
Kids segment
Domoney leaves us with a final tip. He advises to always include what he calls a ‘kids segment’, if an advertising campaign or a concept lends itself to it. “Today’s children are the customers of the future. And just focusing on young children, because teenagers wouldn’t be sensitive to it, is a common misconception. If you respond to their talents such as their creativity and interests, you’ll reach them.”
Domoneys programme ‘Love your Garden’ on ITV gets an average of 4 million viewers per episode, making it one of the most popular TV programmes in England.
