Racy plant ads raise gardeners’ eyebrows

I was browsing some of the consumer gardening blogs when I came across a couple discussions about Pack Trials as seen from consumers’ points of view. The growers’ marketing efforts struck a false note for them. They saw the campaigns as an effort of bringing in non gardeners who will treat plants as particularly long lasting bouquets. They worried that this meant that garden retailers would push aside traditional gardeners so they can get more money from a broader audience.

How valid are these concerns? Some retail campaigns are aimed at garden decorators, as Gardening Gone Wild’s Saxon Holt called them on his blog. These are the customers we target with overflowing, big impact container gardens. Those plants will be replaced at season’s end with the next crop of abundant, luxurious color.

And it’s true that our industry yearns to bring in new garden buyers. How do we convert suburbanites who equate gardening with weekly mowing to true gardening? Do we dumb down gardening? Or do we try to develop more advanced gardening skills?

So, are true gardeners sidelined in our efforts to reach new and younger gardeners?

Another way we try to appeal to younger gardeners, who were dubbed Ms. and Mr. iPod by consultant Ian Baldwin, is to edit their choices. The idea behind editing is that a garden retailer, the plant expert, sorts through all the possible choices for customers and selects only those plants that perform well in your climate. Instead of having 150 hosta choices, you sell six varieties that are distinctly different from each other and thrive in your region. It makes good business sense to do that, because you increase your sales per square foot if you concentrate your inventory. Does that take away from experienced gardeners who want to try unusual varieties?

The displays at Pack Trials that triggered this debate were the provocative fashion shots at Fides. David Kuack, editor of GMPro, who attended the trials, said that the displays were the talk of the Trials. One photo (shown above) featured two women wearing geranium trimmed tops and little else looking like they would be smooching soon. Another was a large nude man lying in a fetus position atop a field of osteospermums. And the one shown in Saxon Holt’s blog was of a model snarling at the camera, fingers clenching into kalanchoes.

On a marketing note, the display worked in that it got a great deal of attention for Fides. The next question is, do these images entice new gardeners? Do they give an edge to a hobby more affiliated with grannies? They remind me of the kind of images you’d see in an Abercrombie & Fitch ad. When I spoke with Dave Kuack about the image, he said his daughter would think that it’s really cool and would pick up the plant, if it was cheap enough.

That’s a drawback of this campaign. Abercrombie & Fitch is a teen store. I’m not sure the appeal of these images carries over to the 20- and 30-somethings -- you know, those hipsters who can drive to our stores.

Personally, I think furniture ads are a better model for gardening than clothing. Pottery Barn ads focus on a cool, modern but cozy lifestyle. IKEA ads are more willing than Pottery Barn to include people in the ads, and they have a more relaxed and colorful look.

It seems a campaign that fits gardening into a typical 20-something lifestyle would work better than an edgy campaign. I would think a series of ads with a photo of a potted plant, with trimmers and clippings lying beside planter and a lifestyle oriented phrase would draw more Gen Xers than pouty models. One ad could be a photo of rosemary with scissors and clipped rosemary stems next to the pot and a caption “Rosemary chicken for dinner tonight.” The next might feature a hibiscus bush with a bloom attached to a hair clip lying beside it and “A hot night out on the town.”

How are you trying to pull in younger gardeners? Are you worried that you’ll lose your core customer if you get too avant garde?

-- Carol

Comments

[trey]

We are in an era of great confusion in the horticulture industry. We can't figure out who are customers are and how we should be addressing them. We're so intent on attracting the younger generation that we forget the biggest base of customers is the Baby Boomer's and Generation X.

Sometimes the more you try to get someone to love you the harder it becomes for them to actually love you. We're trying too hard to be sexy and cool. When you try too hard it becomes a little phony.

The way to the younger generation is truthfulness and information. We assume they are only moved to do anything if its provocative and sexy. It's a big marketing mistake in my opinion. Not every young person thinks Abercrombie and Fitch is cool. We should be appealing to the Whole Foods Shopper instead.

[Chris Murray]

I think it is great that growers are willing to experiment with different approaches to younger gardeners. If these photos were used in advertising they would certainly create a lot of discussion and word of mouth, which is a good thing. Remember, Whole Foods and Abercrombie don't use the same approach to attract shoppers. All growers don't need to use the same approach either. If this sort of advertising works to attract some people to gardening, great. If another type of ad works to attract even more people, even better. Anything that helps the 'pie grow higher' is good for our industry.

[Cliff Street]

My customer is a 30 to 65 year old woman. We know that other demographics shop with us and do try to get the guys in, but these women are the ones spending the money. The growers have to do what the fashion industry has done and create a buzz about their products. I personally dont think that the racy adds are the way to go. I think that these companies need to do what Coke and Ford have done. Get some of the TV and Movie's that are popular to write in a visit to a garden center during the show and have the actor talk about the plant or say they are beautiful. This will get them more than any racy picture.