Chester’s Flower Shop & Greenhouses in Utica, New York, gave out about 750 flower bunches during its Petal It Forward event in 2015 – and landed on WKTV’s News in the process.
Pitching the news media might not be part of your daily job, but it’s a key element to generating local news coverage for your shop’s Petal It Forward event. SAF has assembled a number of key Petal It Forward media outreach tools to make the task easier for members at safnow.org/pif-press.
Petal It Forward is a “random acts of kindness” type of flower giveaway, where consumers on the street receive two flower bouquets (or flowers) — one to keep and one to share — to demonstrate the Rutgers University research that shows flowers make people happy. SAF will hold its Petal It Forward event on October 19 in New York City, and is calling on SAF members from all across the country to conduct their own events in their local communities to make it a nationwide event.
“Our goal is to have Petal It Forward events on October 19th in all 50 states,” said SAF’s Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Sparks “Currently, there are events planned in 41 cities in 20 states — 30 states to go!”
One piece of advice that Sparks has for members: Start thinking about your publicity push now.
“Get to know your local media outlets and the reporters,” she said. “Read the newspapers, watch the TV news shows, and listen to the radio stations to get a sense of the reporters’ interests and themes. Start thinking about how your Petal It Forward event will help extend the reporters’ subject matter further.”
Check out safnow.org/pif for Petal It Forward information and resources, including a customizable Petal It Forward media advisory, press release, talking points, and a suggested media outreach timeline.
SAF is compiling a list of local Petal It Forward events to show national media that this event is happening all over the country. See where events are happening at safnow.org/pifevents. Get your event listed by completing the Petal It Forward Participation Form at safnow.org/PIFform and submit it by October 5, 2016, so that SAF can include your event on the list it provides to national media.
