Jackie Levine of Central Square Florist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, included a thoughtful quote on her social media posts for Women’s Day. “’After women, flowers are the most divine creations’— Christian Dior”
How do you turn a holiday that’s already major in parts of the world — but pretty minor still in the U.S. — into something big?
For many floral industry members, the answer this year was simple: Get a little help from your friends (and promote the heck out of on social media).
That was part of the strategy behind Jackie Levine’s approach to Women’s Day (March 8). Levine said the “international community” around Central Square Florist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leads to greater overall awareness of the holiday, which is already well established in other parts of the world, including Russia and Europe.
FTD gave away 10,000 bouquets at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The flowers were donated by Sun Valley Floral Farms.
Levine used that familiarity to her advantage with personal, thoughtful posts on social media leading up to the day, including quotes that tied women and flowers together. (One example: “After women, flowers are the most divine creations,” Christian Dior.)
“Women’s Day was very busy for us,” said Levine, who, in addition to social media, sent two targeted emails to promote the day. “There’s an awareness of the holiday already, but the promotion we did, of course, can help as well.”
In fact, the shop received 12 online orders directly from the emails (and likely more phone or walk-in orders spurred on by those nudges), with an average sale just over $100.
“Millionaire Matchmaker” and reality star Patti Stanger shared a Women’s Day photo —and flower shout-out — with her 532,000 followers on Instagram.
That’s a result plenty of florists will envy, especially those who are greeted with blank stares when they mention “Women’s Day” (or worse, eye rolls and accusations of a “made-up” holiday). To promote International Women’s Day 2016 and build awareness nationwide, industry groups and businesses worked together this year for special events, giveaways and social media blitzes.
The day is filled with potential, insists Lane DeVries, president and CEO of The Sun Valley Group in Arcata, California, and the winner of Floral Management Magazine’s Marketer of the Year honors, in 2014, for his efforts to promote Women’s Day.
A happy recipient of a Women’s Day bouquet, courtesy of 1-800-Flowers.com and The Sun Valley Floral Group.
“Women’s Day is placed squarely between Valentine’s Day and Easter, so it is perfectly positioned to keep the momentum of Valentine’s Day going right through spring,” he said. “This was the vision six years ago : to keep our production at a steady level, and not have a precipitous gap in sales while waiting for Easter and Mother’s day.”
Here’s a roundup of how some industry members promoted and commemorated the day this year.
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A collaborative effort among local florists, the California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers and The Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, included a social media campaign on Twitter and Faceboook.
At the Philadelphia Flower Show, the country’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, FTD gave away 10,000 tulip and iris bouquets in recognition. The bouquets were donated by Sun Valley and wrapped in a sleeve promoting Women’s Day and FTD’s#ILookToHer campaign. Through that effort, the company also attracted the attention (and generated a high-profile shout-out on Instagram) of popular reality show star and “Millionaire Matchmaker” Patti Stanger.
- 1-800-Flowers.com also worked with Sun Valley, as it has for the past several years, on a “surprise” flower giveaway to commuters in New York City. The company had a “Women’s Week” collection for consumers and saw “great engagement on our social media platforms in reference to the holiday, according to Yanquie Woodall, vice president, Enterprise Public Relations.
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Teleflora mentioned Women’s Day in its consumer emails and social media posts and featured support materials in its retail florist publications.
Noting that While Women’s Day is still an “emerging holiday in the U.S.,” Teleflora President Jeff Bennet said the company promoted “a curated collection of products on the main page of the Teleflora website as well as in consumer email promotions. We also featured Women’s Day in the MyTeleflora toolbox available to florists) and provided banners and merchandising for all of our eflorists to utilize on their websites.”
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Women’s Day Arizona Flower Market is promoted its giveaway through Facebook www.facebook.com/azflowermarket, among other outlets.
For the second year, local florists across the U.S. in conjunction with the California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers and The Association of Colombian Flower Exporters joined together in support of a national campaign called “Love, Honor, Respect.” The promotion included the launch of a national website www.womensdayholiday.com as well as a social media campaign on Facebook www.facebook.com/womensdayholiday and Twitter www.twitter.com/womensdayusa. California flower growers including Kitayama Brothers and Dramm & Echter donated tens of thousands of fresh flowers to local florists across the country in support of the effort.
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Staff and volunteers greeted passengers at Miami International Airport with flowers — roses, gerbera daisies, carnations and spray chrysanthemums — and a postcard with information about Women’s Day. The postcards highlighted MIA’s special relationship with flowers, as the gateway for 91 percent of all flower imports to the U.S.
As part of the “Love, Honor, Respect,” campaign, Arizona Flower Market, a division of Arizona Family Florist in Phoenix (and another former Marketer of the Year) is giving away free 10 stem bunches of Gerbera daisies to every woman that comes into the Market through the close of business on March 9. The effort also has a philanthropic twist: “In addition to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of women, our goal is to raise awareness for the non-profit organization Where Hope Lives,” said Cheryl Denham, CEO of Arizona Family Florist.
For the International Women’s Day Fair & Luncheon in Chicago, Kennicott Brothers Company “reached out to our talented, female customers and asked if they would be willing to design floral centerpieces,” said Dan Andrews, Kennicott’s fresh flower manager in Chicago. The company showcased some of those designs on Instagram.
- Representatives from American Airlines, the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Transportation Security Administration joined Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. González and the Association of Floral Importers of Florida to hand out more than 25,000 bouquets at Miami International Airport. “Since nine out of every 10 flowers entering the U.S. comes through MIA, we enjoy a huge flower industry in Miami-Dade County,” said Director González. “We are extremely proud to partner with the AFIF in this effort for the second year in a row, to honor and recognize our female passengers.”
- In Charleston, South Carolina, Tiger Lily Florist gave away 300 daffodil bouquets. The shop asked for a small donation for each bouquet. That money will go to THRIVE, a local group supporting victims of domestic violence.
- As reported last week, more than 20 women-owned Chicago floral design companies are pooling their talents for the International Women’s Day Fair & Luncheon, sponsored by the International Trade Club of Chicago, WorldChicago, and the Union League Club of Chicago. The annual event has helped raise awareness of Women’s Day, held annually on March 8, since 2002. Kennicott Brothers Company in Chicago helped organize the event.
Another social media post from Dandelions read, “Happy #WomensDay to all the women out there who have chased a dream, stood tall, broken barriers or just kissed a broken finger. We wish a wonderful day to our own fearless leader, Shirley, who has inspired us all! #womeninbusiness”
“Today, on International Women’s Day, we celebrate all of you!” reads a celebratory post from Ashland Addison.
For many florists, getting in on Women’s Day was less about a specific initiative and more about sharing the love for women on staff. Some of the winsome posts we noticed include:
The staff at Dandelions Flowers & Gifts, Eugene, Oregon, reminded its Facebook followers that the shop is a woman-owned business. (The owner is SAF Chairman Shirley Lyons, AAF, PFCI.)
In Chicago, Ashland Addison Florist Company put together a collage of some of its smiling female faces — personalizing the shop and capitalizing on the day.
Read about other florists’ Women’s Day events, including a party to benefit a local women’s shelter and a design class. Look for more coverage of florists’ efforts next week and in Floral Management magazine. (Have a great Women’s Day promo? We want to hear it! Email mwestbrook@safnow.org.)
