Aspirations - April 2008

We humans are an aspiring species. It’s unlikely that you’d be able to find someone who says, “I would like a demotion” or “I want to have less money than I have now.” We all want to be better off. Many of us dream unreasonable dreams of great fame and wealth, but that’s all those are: dreams. Normal, daily aspirations are far more attainable. We want to be thinner, healthier and more fashionable. Millions of magazines filled with images of beautiful people cater to this fundamental human desire.
Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, was quoted as saying, “In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope.” Hope for what? A better quality of life, whatever that means to the individual buyer. We, too, can be part of this world with our products, if we try. Plants and flowers always appear on the sets of movies and high-quality television shows. They’re also prominent in print media. All sorts of companies associate themselves with plants and flowers. We are the original green industry—even oil companies try to borrow our green cloak.

So what do we do to engage that great aspiring population out there? Well, if you think blowmolded dirty black pots are fashionable, then you might just want to stick with what you already have. But for the rest of us: So far we’ve done very little to capitalize on, or further encourage, the emotional connection people naturally have with the beautiful living things we produce and retail. Our products are less beautiful when packaged and presented poorly because they give the end consumer the impression of low quality and low value. Perfume is always packaged beautifully. Most industries spend a lot of time and energy on how their products look by taking particular care in the products’ packaging and shelf display.

Most consumer products companies would never allow less-than-great-looking products to sit on the shelf, much less allow their premiere items to sit next to their less-than-great-looking items, yet this is how most floral product ends up being displayed at retail. This is not entirely the fault of the retailer, but there is much that can be improved ... like, take the dead stuff off the shelf. Growers also need to understand the environment their product goes into. A store shelf isn’t nearly as good as a greenhouse; most plants won’t thrive in a retail situation.

We must rethink our own attitudes towards our products. Mostly, plants and flowers have been treated as commodities. And as soon as something is a commodity, it’s simply a race to the bottom: who can provide the lowest price for the minimum-acceptable quality? The great fashion brands spend millions of dollars to remind consumers that their product is something special. Full-page ads in consumer magazines show beautiful models in exotic locations wearing these brands, reminding consumers that they could, just by purchasing the branded item, be part of the glamour portrayed in the picture. A fantasy, you say? Yes, but a harmless one. Making a woman feel good because of the purse she carries is no sin. It’s probably an act of goodwill: helping people feel better about themselves.

My son, now 18 and away at university, is quite loyal to certain fashion brands that appeal to his peers. I don’t quite understand what exactly drives his decisions about brands, but I do know that brands are a powerful motivator. A brand allows him to differentiate himself from other (older) generations and identify with his peers. Every generation wants to make its own statement. Some fashion labels come and go but the great ones endure. They endure because of continuous reinvention and continuous reinvestment in the brand identity. Consumers are attracted to that. As an industry, we hardly try at all. Who aspires to buy OUR stuff? There are some efforts that have been successful in their own way, such as Proven Winners. The tricky part will be to maintain quality with growth. Still, I wouldn’t call them an aspiring brand. It’s more of a simplifying, “we tell you what is good” brand. We need to do more and go further. We need to be in the fashion space.

Or, maybe I’m just talking to myself.