MAY 2016
Flowers and plants on consumers’ shopping list in
Europe
From 2016, growers in the Netherlands and abroad who are members of Royal
FloraHolland and the traders who are their customers will again be investing
jointly in the generic promotion of flowers and plants. With a total budget of
14.5 million euro, the Flower Council of Holland (FCH) can reach and stimulate
more consumers and thus give a positive boost to sales of flowers and plants in
Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Optimum return in the most important markets
The FCH promotes the sale of flowers and plants in four countries with an attractive market
size and substantial Dutch market share. With its consumer brands
Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk and Thejoyofplants.co.uk, the FCH provides inspiration in
each country in the relevant country’s language, also taking into account local preferences
and trends. The campaigns, content and promotions therefore reach a large international
group of consumers.
The increased budget allows a greater focus on the most important markets in Europe. There
is already a good network and presence in Germany, France and the UK. This means that the
return is high. Of the 6 million euro currently contributed by the trade, 90% is spent directly
on promotional activities in those three countries.
High profile campaigns, dynamic content, surprising promotions
The FCH develops effective campaigns such as Favourite Flower in which flowers and plants
play the leading role. Thorough market research shows that these eye-catching campaigns
have an impact on people and ensure that flowers and plants are part of their conversation.
Alongside campaigns, inspiration is also provided with relevant and dynamic content, both
online and offline, which is of interest to consumers, the flower and plant sector and the
media. From handy tips, detailed information, remarkable stories and fun facts through to
inspirational images, all of the content can be downloaded free of charge and used for
marketing purposes. Alongside ongoing campaigns and topical content, surprising
promotions such as Vitamin Houseplant for Men are also regularly launched. The FCH
thereby works with the sector to ensure that flowers and plants remain high on the consumer
agenda constantly and in different ways.
Review of the first quarter - Plants
The year started with the campaign ‘Christmas Tree Out. Houseplant In.’ This is now wellestablished in our core countries. In order to support the many sales outlets which now
utilise this theme, we develop a fresh message every year. 260 posters on railway stations in
the Netherlands have ensured that a younger target group are also aware of this topic.
The Houseplant of the Month PR campaign results in a lot of online and offline coverage
every month. In the first three months the focus was on Indoor Trees, Narcissi and White
Scented Plants, in order to promote the entire category of houseplants. The campaign is cofinanced by the EU until July. Alongside press dossiers aimed at relevant media, this also
allows for intensive collaborations with magazines (incl. vtwonen and Madame in Germany)
and with the leading German photographer and artist Kristian Schuller. The campaign
generates 290 articles a month, and reaches over 1 million people.
A more modest PR budget and corresponding reach have
also been used to promote Blue Conifers, Viburnum and
Azalea as Garden Plant of the Month in Germany, the
Netherlands and the UK.
The French version of Vitamin Houseplant for Men went
online at the end of March. More than 650,000 French
speakers have now already seen that plants and men go very
well together, as long as there is a good story attached to it.
Review of the first quarter – Flowers
The first flowers in the Flower Agenda were the tulip, the rose and the freesia. The texts and
the images based on the Groenbranche (Green Sector) Style Trends have been used actively
for PR activities for the first time, as well as a guide for online content. The content for a DIY
craft project was found to be the most popular. On average the campaign generates 230
articles and a reach of 900,000 people per month.
Following earlier successes with the guerrilla campaign ‘In Case Of Love At First
Sight’ (2014) in Paris and the ‘Cupidrone’ film (2015), we again successfully
brought flowers to the attention of an international audience as the ideal
Valentine’s gift. The video, in which Command Cupid was sent out via the
Periscope mobile app to bring lovers together with the aid of flowers, has been
viewed more than 15 million times. People could also experience this live on the
day before Valentine’s Day in Berlin and Paris, all under the media’s watchful eye.
The ‘Command Cupid’ video was even broadcast in full during the popular TV
programme Télématin on France2, which attracted 1.3 million viewers. The total
online reach for this campaign in France was slightly over 63 million.
Just before Mother’s Day in England, the leading luxury
department store Harvey Nichols placed a video on Facebook
(178,743 fans) and Twitter (343,000 followers) in which they
urged people not to buy a clichéd gift like flowers from
mothers. As a rapid response we placed a variant of our
Mother’s Day message from 2015 on their timeline. We
received engagement from their own fans. Harvey Nichols
responded quickly with a compromise with a full vase of flowers next to a
handbag from the department store.
At the end of March our platforms and social media messages were mainly
focused on Easter. With inspirational photographs and a video, we showed
how family and friends can be strikingly surprised with a fabulous Easter
table bursting with flowers (and plants).
Review of the first quarter - Online
The number of unique visitors to all four country
versions of Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk and
Thejoyofplants.co.uk has increased considerably
compared to the first quarter of 2015. The number of
followers and the reach of the social media channels
Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest is also growing.
Having launched the two English language Instagram
accounts (flowers and plants) just before Christmas,
our brand-new Social Media Marketeer has now also
created accounts for the other countries.
Unieke gebruikers
Q1 2016
%Q1 2015
Tollwasblumenmachen.de
76.805
128,57%
Pflanzenfreude.de
63.694
8,61%
Lajoiedesfleurs.fr
58.327
157,61%
Maplantemonbonheur.fr
42.371
52,48%
Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk
39.827
54,08%
Thejoyofplants.co.uk
35.882
160,32%
Mooiwatbloemendoen.nl
50.852
55,42%
Mooiwatplantendoen.nl
54.352
-0,75%
Look ahead to the second quarter
We have gone straight into a number of high-profile activities in the
second quarter. We opened the first modelling agency for plants The Plant Agency - in the centre of Amsterdam. It’s a temporary (5 to
30 April) pop-up agency where plants can be borrowed free of charge
by stylists, editors, photographers and bloggers for productions. The
aim is to draw attention to the Houseplants of the Month through
relevant magazines, websites and blogs. We attracted publicity
immediately after opening on media outlets including RTL
Boulevard, De Wereld Draait Door, Jan Rijdt Rond, Radio 2,
Harper’s BAZAAR, LINDA., Het Parool and even the NOS News.
Vitamin Houseplant for Man is launching Germany at the end of April. Dutch Flower Group
has already highlighted this campaign in a distinctive way at IPM in Essen.
In order to draw extra attention to garden plants in Germany, people can book a night in a
specially created trend garden in Berlin’s hip Schrebergarten in May (via AirBnB).
In the days running up to Mother’s Day (Germany, France and Netherlands) our platforms
and our social media channels will feature various articles relating to flowers (and plants).
Around Father’s Day we will introduce an exclusive and natural shaving soap with the lily’s
nurturing properties: MR. LILIUM. This remarkable product has been produced in
collaboration with designer Katja Gruijters and grower Gerben Ravensbergen.
Another type of art can be admired in the third issue of the online magazine The Green
Gallery. This issue of the inspiration magazine, aimed at the trendsetting target group, puts
the spotlight on flowers in an unexpected way.