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CalFlowers Year in Review Happy New Year to the CalFlowers community! As we plunge into another calendar year – sure to be full of opportunities and challenges across all segments of our great industry – I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable year CalFlowers and its members had in 2022.
From January through March, the new campaign was launched across numerous social media and digital audio platforms, with the largest advertising spend our industry has seen since the days of Promoflor. In the first quarter of 2022, our campaign was seen and heard over 60 million times by potential floral consumers in our target demographic. That 3-month “spend” on advertising represented the limit of CalFlowers’ individual capacity to fund a truly national consumer-direct marketing effort, but also validated the high efficacy of the campaign to truly motivate new consumers to buy fresh flowers in their everyday lives. In March, CalFlowers took the highly unusual step of making our professional marketing assets available to the entire industry. We asked our members for help in amplifying our message through their existing social channels, all while leveraging the awesome film, tiles, stills, GIFs, and audio files to help grow their own businesses. Over 275 (!) floral companies have downloaded the assets, completely free of charge, and helped to boost our campaign. In July, amidst the flurry of preparation for our Fun ‘N Sun convention, CalFlowers established that Flower Feeling Foundation. In August, over 500 industry stakeholders gathered at the fabulous Hotel del Coronado for Fun ‘N Sun. Attendance broke all records, and attendees reported to us pervasively that it was the most productive, enjoyable, and educational event they have attended in years. We look forward to announcing details on Fun ‘N Sun 2024 soon! At Fun ‘N Sun, CalFlowers introduced the TFF Foundation to the industry and summarized the many compelling reasons for individual companies to contribute. We showed how effective the campaign was in driving consumer demand, demonstrating that in just one quarter we potentially activated over $200M in new consumer spending on fresh flowers. TFF/Self Care created an 8% “lift” in the all-important ‘intent to purchase’ analytic, and consumer feedback through online surveys not only showed that people loved the campaign, but that it changed how they view fresh flowers as a category.
As of this week, due to the funding we have received we are back in the digital space once again marketing our awesome industry to the people! Read More Amidst all these remarkable achievements, the Board of Directors of CalFlowers has remained unwavering in its commitment to fund a range of important industry initiatives. From being a primary sponsor of J Schwanke’s Life In Bloom TV show, to Memorial Day Flower Foundation placing fresh flowers at Arlington National Cemetery, to SAF’s Congressional Action Days and annual convention, WFFSA’s FDC and DevX, Slow Flowers Summit, AIFD’s Symposium, IFPA Anaheim, AFE’s scholarship fund and ongoing research initiatives, to state-level support encouraging education and talent pipelines for the industry, CalFlowers continues its support of all things that help ‘More Americans enjoy more flowers more often’. And throughout the entire year, CalFlowers continues to provide its members – over 925 companies – the ‘best in class’ freight programs through Fedex, GLS, and airlines – that allow fresh flowers to move effectively throughout the country and expand profitability for our members. At this time, CalFlowers’ Board of Directors and staff would like to send a heartfelt THANK YOU to our great members and the industry at large for making 2022 the most important year in our 81-year history. The outpouring of support has been incredibly gratifying, and here’s looking forward to an exciting 2023 for the entire floral industry! |
In January, over 400 of you joined our “That Flower Feeling Viewing Party” on Zoom. This was the industry’s first chance to see the exciting new ‘That Flower Feeling’ consumer brand and associated ‘Self care made easy’ campaign. Little did any of us know at the time what an outrageous success the campaign would be, and how positively it would be received by both the industry itself, and the consumers we serve.
This new non-profit was created for one purpose only – to act as a vehicle to collect voluntary financial contributions from across the industry to maintain our capacity to bring our industry’s message to the market.
And so, at numerous industry events throughout the year, CalFlowers continued to talk to segments throughout the industry. Fun ‘N Sun, SAF, WF&FSA, Slow Flowers Summit, Tradewinds, DevX, IFPA and IFTF/Holland represented great opportunities to engage with the industry. And we are happy to report that the industry has answered the call! To date, That Flower Feeling Foundation has received over $650,000 in cash and commitments