GG: When was the first AMORE variety introduced, and which one was it?
LK: The first AMORE variety, Queen of Hearts, was introduced in 2016.
GG: What characteristics were you looking for in the breeding process? Were you actively working towards the heart-shaped pattern on the petals or was that a happy surprise?
LK: The petunia market is a very large and highly competitive commodity market. With many innovations and new varieties entering the petunia market every year, we asked ourselves, ‘How do you capture the hearts and imagination of flower growers, buyers and consumers alike?’ Flowers have always been associated with love. At Danziger we took this one step further through the development of a unique petunia series, characterized by distinct heart-shapes in each petal.”
GG: Obviously, a challenge for any breeder of petunias is to make new varieties stand out among the hundreds that already exist. At what point did you decide to add a special marketing program behind this particular series?
LK: The insight of ‘spreading love,’ not selling flowers, transformed the way we approached our branding and marketing. We began with the name: AMORE™ — a universally understood word for love. We created a 360-degree marketing and branding concept around the emotional question: ‘Are you ready to share your love?’
As part of the total concept, we branded our pots with hearts and the tagline: Share your love. In addition, created shelf visibility for the AMORE™ concept through branded tags, branded pot markers and POS materials. Then we took it farther, creating a teaser video ahead of Flower Trials in Europe. The short film, shot in Leiden, Holland, shows different people receiving a hand-delivered package of love containing an AMORE™ potted plant. Then, we designed our Flower Trials display in the style of Paris, the city of love. An additional marketing campaign, “Share your love in the cities,” helped us extend the end-consumer base for the AMORE™ series by targeting organizational buyers such as parks and municipalities. For this new campaign, Danziger teamed up with Florensis to plant the AMORE™ series in a variety of romantic locations in city parks. The first “share your love” event was held at Vondell Park Amsterdam, featuring live music, special romantic activities and branded AMORE™ giveaways. Our partners around the world liked the idea, and now it is expanding to so many different and exciting locations. It was even adopted in Brazil!
AMORE™ also has its own dedicated webpage, http://danzigeronline.com/cmp/amore/, providing clients and customers with a centralized place to find everything they need regarding the brand, from product information to photos of AMORE™ events and a range of branded marketing materials.”
GG: What effect has the marketing program and slogan “Spreading love, not selling flowers” had on sales? Has it made a difference?
LK: The market loved the story, and we registered unprecedented sales from a single petunia series, and a tremendous growth in our total petunia sales. While next season is going to be the second year for the European market, the U.S. market is only now embracing this concept, and we believe that in the next season we are going to see a lot of AMORE™ in this market as well.
LK: To be honest, when we signed the contract with the pot’s supplier, we were a bit anxious about the risk we took, ordering such a big quantity. We were so happy to hear, even before the season ended, that everything was ordered by the growers, and they were actually producing more. The reaction to this branding is amazing. We see retailers and end-consumers touched by the message, and ‘drawn’ to the plant. Throughout the season we have created more and more marketing materials, from extraordinary gift bags that were given as a giveaway by Florensis, to unique tags that can be used as a personal note as well, to be attached when giving as a present. We see the high engagement this concept brings, and it challenges us to continue surprising, adding more innovative marketing tools for next season. We cannot reveal all at this stage, but we are taking it to the next level, connecting the plant and the concept to the relevant occasional-based marketing in the industry.
Many growers bought the branded pots, which assisted them to increase interest and sales among buyers. Retailers loved that they had a ready-made story for their end consumers that was compelling, relevant and highly visible in the store. By making the decision to stop selling petunias and start selling love in a pot, we transformed this commodity plant into a symbol of love — increasing sales and margins for our clients and spreading happiness in the process.
GG: AMORE petunias definitely have consumer appeal. But what characteristics will appeal to growers?
LK: AMORE petunias bloom from early spring until late autumn. They are low maintenance and easy growing, and are excellent for pots, baskets and mixed containers.
GG: Are there plans to keep expanding the collection? Anything you can share?
LK: Since the first AMORE variety, Queen of Hearts, debuted in 2016, the series has expanded to include Fiesta, Joy, and new for 2018, Purple. We see much potential in AMORE’s ability to spread the love.
GG: What other marketing ideas are in the works for this series that you can tell us about?
LK: With AMORE™, we created a powerful emotional marketing and branding concept along the entire value chain – from grower, to retailer and the end consumer. This is a concept that we will continue to invest in and develop further for years to come, spreading the love of petunias, and the love for humanity even further.
Our goal is to achieve even higher awareness and preference in the European market, but more importantly, to leverage it into a global success. The AMORE™ series, under the same concept, will be sold next season all around the world, from Holland to China, from Japan to the U.S. and all the way to Brazil. We will share our love globally.
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