APRIL 2018
Mercury Messenger BUILDING FTD BRAND AWARENESS PG. 3
DOBBIE'S FLORIST CELEBRATES 130 YEARS PG. 5 ROADMAP TO A GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PG. 6
WHAT'S NEW
LETTER FROM TOM Hello FTD Florists! Thank you again for a very strong Valentine’s Day holiday. It was our best since 2013! Mother’s Day is just around the corner and we’re busy doing everything we can to make doing business with FTD easier and to help you grow. Once again, FTD will be laser-focused on a core collection of bouquets. As of May 1, these bouquets, plus select sympathy designs, will be the only options available for florist delivery from May 11-13. This will help streamline your container and flower purchases and simplify production.
Mother's Day 2018 PREVIEW
FTD is taking extra steps to ensure that this Mother’s Day is one of your most successful ever! Our lineup of codified exclusives includes vases that are used in multiple designs and popular flowers that are easy to source. Additionally, we are laser-focused on our top 20 items and will reduce the products available on FTD.com for delivery from May 11-13 to these products and select sympathy designs. As they did at Valentine’s Day, these key actions should streamline your flower and container purchases and simplify production.
I encourage you to visit www.FTDi.com/ MothersDay as you’re preparing for the holiday. Our team has created a robust set of resources for you, including a planning guide, bouquet cheat sheets, social media assets and much more. Plan to grow and work your plan! On another note, I’m excited for you to learn more about the future strategy that our CEO, John Walden, and I have shared with you over the past few months. One of our core areas of focus is rebuilding a strong FTD brand and, by doing so, earning the trust and winning the hearts of consumers and restoring florist pride in FTD. We’re also driving awareness through participation in high-profile events, including partnering with lifestyle media publisher POPSUGAR® for International Women’s Day and being a Signature Sponsor of the twenty-fifth annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at the Walt Disney World Resort. These events will bring awareness of the FTD brand to millions and millions of consumers leading up to Mother’s Day. You can expect to see and hear more about how we’re rebuilding the FTD brand and driving awareness in the months to come. For now, I would encourage you to fully leverage the power of the Mercury Man logo in your shops and in your marketing to further drive awareness and local traffic. Finally, I hope you enjoy the profile on Dobbie’s Florist in Ontario. This shop has been an FTD partner for 97 years and in business for 130 years. A big reason this fourth-generation family business has survived and thrived is their commitment to quality and their customers. We can all learn something from their success! All the best for a successful Mother’s Day! I encourage you to fully leverage our resources, plan to grow and keep your Mercury systems on to capitalize on lastminute orders.
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Executive Vice President Florist Division
The FTD® Sweet Devotion™ Bouquet | S7
The FTD® Sunlit Meadows™ Bouquet | S3
Please note that perennial favorite The FTD® Sweet Devotion™ Bouquet, previously codified as DVB, is part of the Mother’s Day lineup in a new container. The bouquet is now codified as S7.
INTRODUCING THE FTD
Designer's Workshop FTD has created a fresh, exciting new everyday codified collection that is the perfect mix of modern and natural, free-flowing designs. The FTD Designer’s Workshop offers an entirely new approach to floral design and incorporates unique textures and trends. The FTD Designer’s Workshop will launch in late July on FTD.com. Contact your FTD® Marketplace™ Sales Representative at 800.788.9000 for more details.
CAPTURE LOCAL ORDERS WITH MARKETING MATERIALS We’re committed to providing you with the tools you need to drive local orders to your shop. On our Mother’s Day preparedness site, www.FTDi.com/MothersDay, you’ll find: • A planning guide • Social media content • Cheat sheets and much more Additionally, FTD has partnered with a new print-on-demand partner. With just a few clicks, you can co-brand postcards, tri-fold booklets and brochures with your shop’s information and shipped to your store or mailed directly to your customers. These materials are offered at competitive prices and conveniently billed to your FTD Clearinghouse Statement. Get started today at www.FTDi.com/printondemand.
BUILDING FTD BRAND AWARENESS THROUGH EVENT INITIATIVESS
FTD CELEBRATES
International Women's Day FTD partnered with major social influencer POPSUGAR® to celebrate International Women’s Day in New York City on March 8. The FTD brand was prominently on display as FTD’s lead floral designer, Andrea Ancel, held demonstrations in a pop-up flower market. Sun Valley Floral Farms generously donated 10,000 bouquets to help New Yorkers celebrate the special women in their lives. The event is one way FTD is getting out in front of consumers to drive brand awareness in the lead-up to Mother’s Day. POPSUGAR has a global audience of more than four million people, primarily women, and reaches one out of every three millennials. The company’s site, popsugar.com, enjoys 3.1 billion global monthly content views.
EPCOT SPONSORSHIP PUTS FTD IN FRONT OF MILLIONS OF GUESTS FTD is proud to be a Signature Sponsor of the Festival Blooms at the twenty-fifth annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The festival runs from February 28 through May 28, a key time period for FTD to make an impression on potential Mother’s Day customers. Millions of people will visit the event over a three-month period, and the FTD brand will be front and center during their experience. A fullpage FTD ad was featured in the passport book distributed to each guest and custom signage recognizes FTD throughout the event. The display itself featured thousands of flowers forming colorful, living panoramas. FTD member In Bloom Florist of Orlando, FL, owned by John and Sally Kobylinski, arranged stunning bouquets for the event’s media kick-off event.
Valentine's Day
TAKE YOUR BUSINESS FURTHER
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A. Carolyn Howard of Fashion Flowers & Gifts in Charlotte, NC, poses with the FTD Lasting Romance Bouquet. B. The team at Flowers For Any Event in Shelby Township, MI, prepares for Valentine’s Day. C. The team at Byrum’s Florist, Inc. in Charlotte, NC, worked until 2 a.m. creating beautiful gifts for lucky recipients. D. Peter Conroy of Conroy’s Florist in Morris Plains, NJ, is all smiles on Valentine's Day. E. FTD Field Business Consultant Al McCann poses with the team at Nery’s Party Center Gifts & Flowers in Weehawken, NJ. F. Twins Eric and Crystal Doganay of Eric’s Flower Market in Carlsbad, CA, show off a sweet design on Valentine’s Day.
NOT ON INSTAGRAM? YOU’RE MISSING OUT. With 800 million monthly users, Instagram is social media’s leading photo sharing network. If your business isn’t using it to showcase your designs and floral expertise, you’re missing out on a cost-effective way to promote your shop! FTD’s Market for You program now includes Instagram account creation and management, joining email, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest support. Our team of certified digital marketing specialists takes the time to understand your goals and create a strategy that helps you achieve them. A dedicated specialist will craft content that is customized with your shop’s information and tailored to your customers. The best part: you’ll free up time to focus on what’s most important— creating beautiful arrangements. To get started, email MarketForYou@ftdi.com
JOIN US FOR FTD AMERICA’S CUP Are you planning to attend the AIFD 2018 Symposium in Washington, D.C., this summer? Be sure to attend the FTD America’s Cup floral design competition. Preliminaries begin on June 30 and a winner will be announced on July 4. We invite you to learn more and get to know our competitors at www.FTDi.com/ FTDAmericasCup. One of these design experts will represent FTD and the U.S.A. at FTD World Cup 2019 in Philadelphia, PA, during the Philadelphia Flower Show.
FLORIST SPOTLIGHT
Dobbie's Florist
CELEBRATES 130 YEARS Dobbie’s Florist Limited in Niagara Falls, ON, was founded in 1888 – before Niagara Falls was even incorporated as a city. Since then, four generations of the founding family have provided beautiful blooms to the community. Its rich history is peppered with memorable moments, such as providing the floral arrangements for the event at which President William McKinley was assassinated and supplying flowers and props for the Marilyn Monroe movie Niagara. FTD spoke with owner Bruce Vandersluys, who now runs the shop with his wife, Brenda, to learn how the shop has survived and thrived for more than a century.
including standing orders for cemetery decorations that have been in place for more than 90 years. The shop has also modernized with the times and now offers a vast line of local and exotic imported flowers and plants as well as gifts for all occasions. FTD: CELEBRATING 130 YEARS IN BUSINESS IS QUITE THE ACHIEVEMENT! TO WHAT DO YOU CREDIT THE SHOP’S LONGEVITY? BV: We truly love what we do. We try to stay current with the trends and technology, which is true of all four generations of Dobbie’s Florist. Customers within our community trust that we will listen and provide what they are looking for and be creative at the same time.
Second-generation owner Eva Dobbie Vandersluys
FTD: DOBBIE’S IS A FOURTHGENERATION SHOP. HOW HAVE THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS BEEN PREPARED TO TAKE OVER THE BUSINESS? BV: The younger generations have always been involved in this family business, from working in the greenhouses, to delivering flowers dressed as bunnies at Easter, to helping with websites and technology, to assisting with store renovations and working at holidays. That continues to this day.
Current owners Brenda and Bruce Vandersluys
FTD: YOU’VE BEEN AN FTD MEMBER FLORIST FOR 97 YEARS. WHAT DO YOU VALUE ABOUT YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH FTD?
FTD: TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR SHOP’S HISTORY. BRUCE VANDERSLUYS: Dobbie’s Florist was founded by John Dobbie, a Scottish immigrant. He was a schoolteacher and principal but had a keen interest in botany that eventually led him to retire from teaching to work full time in the flower business. The business grew in size quickly as he was the first florist in the town and florists then grew practically all of their own flowers. Dobbie’s joined FTD soon after the idea of wiring flower orders was developed. Over the years, Dobbie’s became known as the go-to florist for providing flowers for the royal family when they visited Niagara Falls. The family has provided decorations for events honoring Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana and her two sons, William and Harry. While the shop has come a long way since its founding, it still continues some old traditions,
The original interior of the shop
Founder John Dobbie
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BV: Dobbie’s Florist was one of the first in Canada to be FTD. Times have changed and in partnering with FTD, Dobbie’s was able to keep up and evolve.
The horse hitching post from the original shop stands outside the current shop
QUALITY CORNER
ROADMAP TO A GREAT
Customer Experience Delighting customers is more than building a beautiful bouquet. The following steps from FTD’s Quality team will help you gain loyal customers who trust your ability to deliver an all-around exceptional experience.
Floral Care and Handling Prolong fresh flower life by caring for it properly when it arrives in your shop, including storing the product at the correct temperature and using the right portion of flower food. Consumers should be able to expect seven days of vase life.
Fill to Recipe Carefully review bouquet recipes in the Product Recipe Catalog found at www.FTDi.com/Quality to ensure correct stem count and prevent customer disappointment.
Minimize Substitutions Do not make any substitutions that alter the arrangement’s color balance, size, shape or style. Remember, all codified bouquets must be filled in the specified container and no substitutions may be made.
First Impressions Matter Make sure that your delivery driver and vehicle are good representatives of both your shop and FTD. Your bouquets should also be packaged neatly and professionally.
CONNECT WITH US www.FTDi.com | 800.788.9000 facebook.com/MercuryNetwork
Confirm Deliveries Make sure every delivery is confirmed by 5:30 p.m. (local time). You can do this with the FTD Mercury Point of Sale unit, Mercury Mobile app, FTD Mercury Cloud dashboard or FTDConfirm.com (for Mercury Direct users).
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For additional details on any of these five steps, and to learn more about all of the FTD Quality programs, please visit www.FTDi.com/Quality.