FTD Mercury Messenger - August 2017

NOVEMBER 2017

Mercury Messenger HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS PG. 2

BUILDING THE FTD BRAND STORY PG. 4

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MAKEOVER MAGIC 2017 PG. 5

Bruce Cohen FTD Florist since 1985 Bonnie Flower Shop, Chicago, IL

WHAT'S NEW

LETTER FROM TOM Hello FTD Florists!

As the weather turns cooler and the leaves change colors, our minds naturally turn to the holiday season. We’re excited to share various ideas to help you grow your business during this busy season and all throughout the year.

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As we did at Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, FTD will streamline our product offering on FTD.com as Christmas approaches. This will allow you to focus your flower and hard good purchases and increase your efficiency. You can view our projected Top 20 bouquets at www.FTDi.com/Christmas. FTD will take this simplified approach at Valentine’s Day as well.

If you haven’t yet downloaded the FTD Mercury Mobile app, we strongly urge you to do so today. By providing real-time delivery confirmations, you’ll ease your customers’ minds during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and deliver the best-in-class experience that today’s consumers have come to expect.

We encourage you to review your Florist Scorecard, located at www.FTDi.com/ Quality, on a monthly basis. These metrics can impact your incoming order volume, so it’s important to review them regularly and quickly address any issues that arise.

We continue to roll out new tools designed to help you take your business further. The FTD Florist YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/FTDMercuryNetwork, is packed with new how-to videos, recorded webinars and quick business-boosting advice. You’ll definitely want to check out our how-to video on building the FTD® Make It Merry™ Tree before Christmas orders start arriving in your shop.

Finally, we wanted to share that FTD recently launched a new series of consumer-facing videos designed to build awareness and excitement around the FTD brand and you, our network of trusted florists.

These videos feature celebrations – an anniversary, the announcement of a pregnancy, the beginning of a new career – that are made even more special through the thoughtful gift of flowers. The videos began to be widely promoted in social media and online streaming channels such as Hulu in October and will continue throughout November.

All of us here at FTD send you our best wishes for a successful holiday season!

Executive Vice President Florist Division

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HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY

Christmas

FTD is ready to help you have the happiest season of all. Our dedicated Christmas preparedness site, www.FTDi.com/Christmas, is loaded with everything you need to promote your beautiful bouquets and drive local business.

When you visit the site, be sure to download our Christmas 2017 Planning Guide. You’ll go behind the scenes to learn what inspired our exclusive bouquets and find best practices, checklists, calendars and much more to help you plan for a successful holiday.

THE SITE ALSO FEATURES

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Recipes for FTD’s projected Top 20 best sellers Social media assets and post suggestions Bouquet-specific substitution guidance Codified product cheat sheets with DSRPs

MAKE SPIRITS BRIGHT WITH REAL-TIME DELIVERY CONFIRMATIONS By offering real-time delivery confirmations, you’ll give your customers one less thing to worry about during the busy holiday season. Think of the FTD Mercury Mobile app as Santa’s little helper – deliveries can be confirmed while drivers are still on the route, and recipients sign for deliveries right on the driver’s phone. You’ll also take stress off your shop employees and save money by reducing costs related to delivery confirmation requests.

The app is FREE to download and use and is available in both the App Store and Google Play.

TAKE YOUR BUSINESS FURTHER

ARE YOU CELEBRATING SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY? FTD is a proud corporate sponsor of Small Business Saturday. This annual event, founded in 2010 by American Express, encourages shoppers to visit and support local businesses both during the holiday season and all throughout the year. This year, Small Business Saturday will be celebrated on November 25.

To promote your shop’s participation in Small Business Saturday, visit www.shopsmall.com and download customizable marketing materials that can be used both in your shop and on social media.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR

Intern with Ian Winner!

Nancy Gilbert of Country Petals in Peconic, NY, was the lucky winner of the FTD Intern with Ian contest!

Nancy traveled to Florida in late October to shadow Ian Prosser AIFD during a three-day wedding weekend. She received an up-close look at the “creative hurricane” that is Ian Prosser Productions and helped design a gorgeous tropical wedding display. She also picked up tips and tricks that she plans to put into action at her own shop and valuable knowledge to help her boost her wedding business. Congratulations, Nancy!

FTDMercuryNetwork

BOOST YOUR BUSINESS WITH MERCURY NETWORK

Got a minute or two? Brush up on your design skills or pick up new business-building tips on the Mercury Network YouTube page, www.YouTube.com/FTDMercuryNetwork.

In addition to eight brand-new how-to videos devoted to both FTD exclusives and everyday arrangements, you’ll find dozens of recorded webinars, two-minute business-boosting videos and more.

Visit the Mercury Network channel today and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss new video postings!

BUILDING THE FTD BRAND STORY In October, FTD launched a new brand campaign to better connect with its customers and create differentiation in a busy marketplace.

We Can Arrange That is an integrated campaign that tells the story of how a brand turns its customers’ feelings into flowers. With multiple videos and strategic media behind the campaign, this not only adds value to the FTD brand, but also helps consumers feel confident that no matter what sentiment they’re trying to convey, it can be done with an FTD bouquet.

Nancy Gilbert and Ian Prosser celebrate a job well done at the conclusion of a busy weekend.

You can watch the videos at www.YouTube.com/FTDFlowers

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FLORIST SPOTLIGHT Rothe Florists of Philadelphia, PA, was named the winner of the 2017 FTD Makeover Magic contest. The shop stood out to the judging panel because of its unique history (it was built as a home in the 1700s) and the potential to merge “old world Philadelphia” with a more updated retail style. In October, FTD Education Consultant and merchandising expert J. Keith White AIFD traveled to Philadelphia to spearhead the merchandising makeover, which included adding new fixtures, creating a new front window display and reimagining the way the shop presented merchandise. Keith, owner Herb Rothe III and Herb’s wife, Cheryl, shared their thoughts once the transformation was complete.

FTD: WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE MAKEOVER? HR: The new fixtures. It’s an open feeling. We have a small space and a lot of merchandise to put out. The fixtures really help do that. Some of the shop fixtures had been here since 1955 and really limited what we could do.

It was time.

BEFORE: The shop's large jewelry inventory was housed in a glass case that didn't encourage browsing.

FTD: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO ENTER THE MAKEOVER MAGIC CONTEST? HERB ROTHE: I saw the email from FTD and forwarded it to Cheryl. She emailed back and said, “Let’s do it!”

CHERYL ROTHE: For years, I’ve wanted different fixtures and we knew it needed to be changed. We just weren’t able to do it.

FTD: KEITH, WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WITH THIS MAKEOVER? KEITH WHITE: My goal was to help them thrive in a current marketplace. The environment was so different when the shop was founded 109 years ago. I wanted to create an environment that is inviting and comfortable for browsing and shopping.

The choice of fixturing was really crucial to visually increase the square footage, including their vertical footprint.

KW: I think it’s actually the overall outcome of the entire makeover. We created a visual window that draws people into a new sales area.

FTD: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEXT YEAR’S WINNER? HR: We went into this with a 100 percent open mind. We were a blank slate. That would be my recommendation for any future winners. It’s your chance to really make a difference and Keith White puts the final touches on a display. the only way I can see to do that is to go into it with an open mind. I’m blessed to have this happen. It’s a really wonderful thing.

FTD: WHAT ARE YOU HOPING THE LONG-TERM RESULT OF THE TRANSFORMATION WILL BE? HR: I want the long-term result to change the way we look at displaying merchandise in the store. That’s one of the big things we wanted to change.

We needed ideas.

KW: To inspire the Rothes to continue to make changes that will help them over the long term, including modifying areas of the store for more efficient work and sales. I also hope they are able to increase repeat customers and honor a historical local shopping experience.

Herb Rothe replaces chandelier bulbs during the makeover.

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AFTER: The glass jewelry case was replaced with a reclaimed natural pine island and counter stools that encourage customers to linger in the store.

Jewelry was placed in new Curio cabinets and on wooden fixtures

To view more before and after photos, please visit Facebook.com/MercuryNetwork.

CELEBRATING FTD MEMBER FLORISTS

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A. FTD Regional Vice President – National Accounts Ed Cronin presents Bill Becks of Becks Florist, Inc. in Peoria, Illinois, with the shop’s Top 100 Sender plaque. B. FTD partnered with member florist Phillip’s Flowers & Gifts of Westmont, Illinois, to take part in SAF’s Petal It Forward event on October 11. Thousands of bouquets, donated by Sun Valley Floral Farms and Galleria, were distributed to commuters at busy local train stations. C. Longtime FTD member Lake Forest Flowers in Lake Forest, Illinois, celebrated their centennial anniversary in October. Pictured are Eileen Looby Weber and John Looby III. D. Florists from all across North America came to FTD Headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois, for the October session of FTD Boot Camp, a three-day business- and design-boosting intensive.

VALENTINE’S DAY IS COMING UP

Roses

FTD’s Valentine’s Day 2018 exclusives boldly embrace red! Inspired by the rich, velvety look and feel of red roses, our thoughtfully crafted bouquets are paired with colorful vases and metallic accents.

The FTD Valentine’s Day Collection will launch on FTD.com in January.

The FTD® Lasting Romance™ Bouquet | V1

Contact your FTD® Marketplace™ Representative at 800.767.4000 to place your order today.

The FTD® Sweethearts® Bouquet | V2

QUALITY CORNER

’TIS THE SEASON TO REVIEW YOUR

Coverage Area

Position yourself to receive the holiday orders you want by right-sizing your delivery footprint. This will help you reduce delivery costs and ensure that you are set to receive orders within your coverage area. To get started, take a look at your most recent Florist Scorecard. This tool contains valuable data to help you guide business decisions and maximize order potential.

TO ACCESS THE FLORIST SCORECARD: 1 Go to www.FTDi.com/Quality, click on Florist Scorecard on the left-hand menu and log in with your account number, User ID and password.

2 From there, click on the ZIP Code Coverage link on the first page of the scorecard.

3 You will now see a list of all the ZIP Codes you are signed up to service as well as the cutoff times for each.

AS YOU REVIEW THE LIST, ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1 “Are these codes current and correct?”

2 “Does it make sense to deliver to all of these codes when I consider delivery costs?”

3 “Are there any codes or cutoff times listed that might lead to a late or non-delivery?”

CONNECT WITH US www.FTDi.com | 800.788.9000 facebook.com/MercuryNetwork instagram.com/mercurynetwork YouTube.com/FTDMercuryNetwork blog.ftdi.com

If you need to make updates after reviewing your list, please contact the FTD Quality Services Representative team at QSR@ FTDi.com. The team can also provide a performance review that evaluates your ZIP Codes and cutoff times.

During peak holiday times, you might find it helpful to temporarily reduce your delivery footprint. For example, you could deliver to all of your ZIP Codes during the lead-up to Christmas and then shrink your footprint closer to the holiday.

For more tips to improve processes and customer satisfaction, visit www.FTDi.com/Quality.