Instead of putting down flowers from a competitor, Eddie Wingrat of owner of Flowers & Fancies in Owings Mills, Maryland, told the Baltimore Business Journal his shop was known for high quality flowers and top-notch service.
Feature stories that slammed Valentine’s Day flowers, followed by profiles of industrious florists making good on a busy, busy day, alongside detailed analyses of the floral industry — where it’s been and where it could be heading… Welcome to the media world of Valentine’s Day 2016.
This year’s holiday may not have been one for the sales record books but, when it came to attracting media attention, the holiday delivered, sometimes more positively than others.
CNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today (among many others) and scores of regional publications all turned serious attention to the industry this year.
Some of the stories provided a glimpse of small businesses hard at work, others presented a picture of an industry in decline and many fell some place in between.
Each year, the Society of American Florists plays an active role not only in representing the floral industry to reporters, producers and editors but also in tracking coverage at a national and local level.
This year’s coverage was most notable because of the depth of the reporting, in some cases, and the focus on new challengers to traditional flower shops, including start-up companies and industry outsiders, such as Amazon’s Prime Now delivery service, said Jennifer Sparks, SAF’s vice president of marketing, who responded to a number of negative or misleading news items surrounding the holiday.
Sparks said that when it came to regional stories, “florists who kept a smile on their faces in the midst of long days and tough questions came out shining.”
Local Florist as Top Spokesperson
In a story that detailed new challenges and complicated details of the floral industry, several florists provided clear, detailed and thoughtful responses.
In many stories on Valentine’s Day, florists proved to be the best representative, of their own businesses and of the industry at large. And, since Mother’s Day, another media-friendly floral holiday, is coming up soon, we’ve included some tips on how to copy these florists’ best moves.
Be positive. The Baltimore Business Journal was just one publication that clued its readers into the new one- or two-hour flower delivery service offered by Amazon Prime Now. Area florists took the reporters’ questions in stride (and, we bet, in the process helped write the cool-as-a-cucumber headline “Amazon is Delivering Flowers in an Hour—But Local Florists Say They Aren’t Worried.”) Amazon is “a totally different product and a totally different approach to the value and the quality,” said Eddie Wingrat of owner of Flowers & Fancies in Owings Mills, Maryland. “We carry very high-quality flowers, and we have very high-quality customer service.” Copy that move: No need to go negative when asked to compare your products or services to another company’s; instead focus on what you offer, and keep your comments positive.
Florists’ input helped balance an otherwise gloomy take on the industry in the Star Tribune.
Be the expert. In one of the “most informative” floral industry write-ups Sparks has seen in the mainstream press, The New York Times turned its attention to the many twists and turns in the history of the industry, including the founding of the wire services and their current business models, as well as start-up companies and the supply chain. SAF Treasurer Chris Drummond, AAF, of Plaza Flowers in Philadelphia didn’t shy away from answering challenging questions. When asked about justifying the cost of wire service affiliation to his business, he provided a thoughtful response. “We run analytics to quantify what it costs to acquire an order,” he said. “My cost across all of the platforms usually ranges from 24 to 30 percent. In the end, no matter what I use, I have to figure out how to make money on about 73 percent of the sale.” Copy that move: Don’t be afraid of answering tough questions — which can provide a balance to a potentially negative story — but do be prepared for them. (And remember that it’s always OK to tell a reporter you’ll call him or her back with more information.)
Be the silver lining. “Gloomy” is a good way to describe a write-up in the Star-Tribune, “Despite Valentine Romeos, Florists’ Business Far from Rosy.” The story outlined a list of familiar headaches for florists, including online order gatherers and supermarkets. Still, despite the headline,
In Knoxville, Tennessee, Emily Cappen at the Flower Pot in Knoxville, Tennessee, welcomed the attention of reporters on her busiest day.
Bachman’s, the Twin Cities’ largest family-owned florist and landscaper, came across looking professional and totally capable of meeting all those challenges. “We’ve seen the economy change, and we’ve seen the marketplace change,” said CEO Dale Bachman, whose workers have crafted 7,500 flower arrangements for Valentine’s Day, which falls behind Mother’s Day and Christmas in annual sales. “We’ve tried to adapt and change over those years.” He went on to detail differences between millennial flower buyers and those in previous generations. Copy that move: The story may have read gloomy, but imagine how it would have read without the florists’ input, said Sparks. Occasionally, you’ll get a media call you don’t immediately want to take (“How are those record high health care costs affecting you?”) but if you can find a way to position your business in a positive light, you may want to take a beat and call her back.
Be excited. When Go Knoxville visited Emily Cappen at the Flower Pot in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the run-up to the holiday she didn’t complain about long days or hard work. She shared her joy in her profession. “I will never forget my first Valentine’s Day after I joined my sister in this,” Campen said. “There were flowers everywhere with little walkways through them here and there. It was like an episode of ‘Hoarders,’ but it was all flowers. People worked like crazy. It’s like walking into the middle of a three-ring circus.” Cappen also fed the reporter some great background info, including the fact that the business delivers approximately 1,200 flower arrangements every Valentine’s Day week. Copy that move: You have 10,000 tasks to juggle on Valentine’s Day (and Mother’s Day) and 100,000 other items on your mind. For your interview, though, put on a smile and find your enthusiasm — that gee-isn’t-this-great spirit will come through.
Read about additional coverage of individual florists — including how a last-minute press release paid off for SAF Chairman Shirley Lyons, AAF, PFCI.