More than 50 videos were entered into the AFE contest, and the top 10 finalists were chosen by a selection committee. The winning entry, “Let Happiness Bloom” by Jaclyn Fiola, shows people of different ages and backgrounds receiving flowers in every day and special occasion setting.
A joyful one-minute video that captures the positive feelings a gift of flowers generates took home first place honors in the American Floral Endowment’s #FlowerLoveVideoContest.
The winning entry, “Let Happiness Bloom” by Jaclyn Fiola, shows people of different ages and backgrounds receiving flowers in every day and special occasion setting — and the big smiles and heartfelt thanks such gifts create.
“It means a lot to be recognized and I’m grateful for the opportunity to promote the floral industry and the gift of flowers,” said Fiola, a Ph.D. candidate at The Ohio State University, who also works in the university’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. “I believe videos like these can tell a story that both informs and encourages people to buy more flowers.”
Fiola was awarded $4,000 for her grand-prize entry in the contest, which was sponsored by Asocolflores and funded through the Floral Marketing Research Fund.
The contest was created based on results from the 2016 FMRF-funded study “Marketing Tactics to Increase Millennial Floral Purchases,” also sponsored by Asocolflores. The study suggests that reaching millennials through short, authentic videos is an effective way to engage them, and that millennials enjoy sharing funny, sentimental and how-to videos on social media.
More than 50 videos were entered into the contest, and the top 10 finalists were chosen by a selection committee. The videos were scored based on commercial appeal, creativity, and how much the video highlights fresh flowers in a positive way. The Top 10 videos were then voted by consumers, industry members and others on social media, with the video receiving the most votes crowned the grand prize winner. About 3,500 people voted in the contest within the three-week voting period.
“It’s neat to see the creativity that awakens in people when given a fun and open-ended opportunity to display their talent and passion,” said Gray Simpson, one of the judges in the selection committee, and a member of AFE’s Young Professionals Council.
“Genuine, heartwarming advertising is scarce, and I can’t remember the last time I saw a clip featuring flowers. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see this more often?”
Find out more, and see Fiola’s video, Honorable Mention winners and Top 10 picks, at endowment.org
