NewsBud Jan.7.08

January 7, 2008

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS TOGETHER

contents

Saying 'Will You' for Prizes, on the Web
The marketing phrase 'Engaging the consumer' takes on a new marketing twist with 1-800-Flowers.com

Ontario Greenhouse Growers to Vote on Checkoff
A new mandatory checkoff program collecting funds from Ontario greenhouse growers goes to vote

New Poinsettia Variety Announced
This new poinsettia is very different from the traditional red, white, and pink varieties

Are You Part of the 15 Percent?
Retaining good employees starts with good management

saying 'will you' for prizes, on the web

�ENGAGING the consumer� is a popular phrase in marketing, particularly as the public shifts its attention from television to interactive media like the Internet. This Valentine�s Day, engaging consumers � or getting consumers engaged � is precisely what the online floral retailer 1-800-Flowers.com aims to do.

As the first component of a yearlong partnership with Google, the company is holding a �Will You Marry Me?� contest to find the season�s most intriguing marriage proposal. Love-smitten users can log on to a special 1-800-Flowers.com YouTube channel starting on Monday and submit a video of themselves proposing.

The winning video will be on YouTube�s front page on Feb. 11. The winner will receive a wedding at a Sandals Resorts property, with transportation provided by American Airlines and an engagement ring from the Internet jeweler Blue Nile.

The retailer will also hold a �Video Valentine� contest for those already married or not yet ready to pop the question. Users can upload their Valentine�s Day message to the site, and the winner will be featured on YouTube�s front page on Feb. 14. That winner will receive prizes from 1-800-Flowers.com and Victoria�s Secret.

The idea behind the contests is to grab consumers� attention before the Valentine�s shopping season gets under way. Although Valentine�s Day is not the biggest sales event of the year for the $16 billion floral industry � that title belongs to Mother�s Day � it is a vital time for connecting with customers, said Monica L. Woo, president of consumer floral brand at the company, which is based in Carle Place, N.Y.

�Valentine�s Day is a critical season for us, partly just because of the intensity of emotion around the occasion,� said Ms. Woo. �The creative elements we have with this partnership really capture the sentiment and the connection that people have with the season.�

Visitors to the channel will be able to view and comment on the video valentines, and will eventually choose the winner. Proposal videos will remain private to preserve the element of surprise; 1-800-Flowers.com officials will select that winner.

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The channel, which the company plans to alter throughout the year to accommodate other holidays and occasions, will also provide romantic decorating tips. Although consumers cannot make actual purchases on the channel, they can browse and select products and be taken directly to 1-800-Flowers.com�s checkout page. Links are also provided to the sites of the other contest sponsors.

The company is also offering a free widget through Google Gadgets that users can download onto their desktops or embed on a Web page. The small program allows users to send virtual bouquets to friends or link directly to the retailers� Web site.

To be sure, 1-800-Flowers.com is hardly the first advertiser to start a channel or hold a video contest on YouTube. Burger King, Pepto-Bismol and Showtime are just a few of the marketers to have done that. But the partnership between 1-800-Flowers.com and Google is unusual because it extends beyond the Internet.

Google, which has long placed Web ads through its AdSense system, has recently started several offline ad-placement services. Google Audio and Google Print use Web-based marketplaces to connect advertisers with radio and print media, and Google TV, which is still in testing mode, does the same for television.

As part of the partnership, 1-800-Flowers.com will use each of these services throughout 2008 to place ads directing consumers to the YouTube channel.

Since its purchase of YouTube, Google has searched for ways to make the video-sharing site profitable through advertising without cluttering it with banners or ads that run ahead of video clips, and without alienating members who are sensitive to any perceived exploitation of the community. Tim Armstrong, Google�s president for advertising and commerce, called the current partnership with 1-800-Flowers.com a major step toward that goal.

�1-800-Flowers.com is taking advantage of how consumers use the Internet,� he said, adding that the company would not be trying to re-route Web traffic to its site. �That�s the game-changer for YouTube, if it can become a platform where marketers learn to leverage the community rather than reroute it.�

�This shows the ability of YouTube to capture an event like Valentine�s Day and really build a community around it,� he added.

Indeed, Ms. Woo said respect for the YouTube community was central to the channel�s design. �We have a very strong respect for the whole YouTube culture in terms of making sure this channel is truly bringing value to the community,� she said. �What we don�t want to do is overly commercialize the channel.�

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Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed, but Ms. Woo did say that money for the campaign was being diverted from ad budgets for more traditional media, like TV and print.

Google will not be placing all advertisements for 1-800-Flowers.com throughout 2008, however. TargetCast, an independent media agency based in New York, continues to handle media planning and some buying for the company. The ads for the Valentine�s Day campaign were created by 1-800-Flowers� internal creative agency, Connect 7. The company does not maintain a relationship with an outside creative agency.

The online floral and gift sales industry accounted for $2 billion in sales in 2007, and is projected to reach $2.9 billion by 2012, according to JupiterResearch.

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Ontario greenhouse growers to vote on checkoff

Ballots will be in the mail next week for Ontario's growers of cut flowers, potted plants, bedding annuals and "propagative plant materials" to vote on a proposed mandatory checkoff to fund Flowers Canada (Ontario).

The group has applied to the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) to be recognized as the official representative association for greenhouse floriculture growers in Ontario, and for authority to collect a mandatory checkoff based on members' greenhouses' square footage.

OFPMC will conduct the vote and send mail-in ballots to all known greenhouse floriculture growers producing on 20,000 square feet or more, starting Monday (Jan. 7).

The commission said in a release Thursday that eligible growers who don't get a ballot by Jan. 10 should call the OFPMC office (519-826-3395). Eligible growers must have been growing on 20,000 sq. ft. or more as of Dec. 31, 2007. Returned ballots must be postmarked no later than Jan. 23.

The proposed checkoff would take the form of an annual license fee of two cents per square foot, to a maximum of $13,000 (650,000 sq. ft.).

The commission's single question asks growers if they're in favour of Flowers Canada (Ontario) becoming their association, and in favour of paying the annual license fee in order to "finance the association's activities to stimulate, increase and improve the producing or marketing of greenhouse floriculture products in Ontario."

FCO said on its web site that its application will need the support of at least 66.6 per cent of producers representing at least 50 per cent of the eligible acreage in order to pass.

It also noted that the proposed fee structure is meant to spread the load and is less than what FCO members pay currently.

"For too long the load has been carried by only 135 growers for the benefit of the other 600," the group said in a fact sheet on the site. "Taxes, pesticides, border access, fair share of CAIS and COP payments, regulatory environment -- they all cost dollars and require resources to manage."

But FCO stressed that the vote will not make it the regulatory body, just the representative body, for Ontario floriculture. It also stressed that the association will not take in growers of nursery stock, perennials or biennials grown for planting into the soil outdoors and which overwinter.

FCO asked members with questions to contact its office or one of the board members on either FCO or the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance (TOGA, the sister organization for greenhouse vegetable, pepper and flower growers).

"Get the correct information -- not misinformation in the coffee shop," the group said on its site.

Flowers Canada (Ontario) represents and acts on behalf of GROWERS in Ontario only.

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new poinsettia variety announced

There's a new poinsettia creating a buzz on the campus of the University of Connecticut � and, it's not of the traditional red variety.

Horticulturist Bob Shabot, of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the university, has developed a poinsettia with gold and pink tones called "Cinnamon Stick." In addition to the coloring, another atypical characteristic of the plant is its "bracts that point upward, giving the flower a vase-like shape," according to an article in Advance, a weekly University publication. Chabot calls that aspect of the poinsettia "an attention-getter."

"Cinnamon Stick" is derived from Fischer USA's variety "Cinnamon Star". Five years ago Shabot "first noticed something different about two branches of a particular specimen, Cinnamon Star ... being grown at UConn for teaching purposes," the article states.

Now, after testing and examination at UConn, "Cinnamon Stick," is undergoing trials in locales such as Colorado and Germany. According to the article, Shabot is considering getting a patent on the poinsettia.

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are you part of the 15 percent?

Retaining productive employees starts with good management, but according to a new study, about 15 percent of U.S. managers are rated ineffective.

Out of the six countries studied, the U.S. ranks the worst in effective managing skills, such as treating employees fairly, doing a good job at managing the team�s work and the team itself, and providing useful feedback to the employee, reports Kenexa Research Institute, part of HR services firm Kenexa Corporation, in Wayne, Pa.

�It really boils down to two fundamental truths,� says Jack Wiley, executive director of Kenexa Research Institute. �Effective managers are respectful, considerate and fair, as well as good organizers who can clearly communicate work expectations and provide feedback. While this is easy to grasp conceptually, many managers struggle with implementation, but for those who get it, there are huge dividends.�

Good managers can positively impact how workers rate their job satisfaction and, ultimately, how long they�ll stay with an organization, compared to managers rated as ineffective, the report says.

To read about how to be a great boss that attracts and keeps enthusiastic employees, check out the complete �Be a Dream Boss� article here

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