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So you have a new plant – what now?
If we build it they will come - forget it, it will not work!
Even if you have the best car, no-one will want it until you market HOW good it is, HOW important it is for others to buy it, and HOW to get their hands on it. The same is true with plant releases. Is it desirable? Have YOU made it desirable with your marketing strategy? Have you allocated a budget to market it, or will your research and development expense be a waste of energy?
When you have a new plant release, just having it on your sales list isn’t enough.
Here are a few tips to help you with a new plant release:-
- Write a press release/media release that is factually correct, not full of b######t!
- Give the plant its correct botanical name, don’t make it up otherwise no one will trust you. If the plant has has a recent name change, make sure you list both the current and older botanical names.
- Be prepared for questions that growers, landscapers and media people may want – provide PROOF that you have tested the plant in a range of climatic zones which your press release claims. Growing a plant in a nursery is NOT the same as in a landscape situation.
- Organise a plethora of images for possible media use. Do not supply all media with the same image as they DO NOT like printing the same image over and over again, especially when it is seen in multiple publications. Take close up images of flowers, leaves, fruit, etc. Place the plant in a range of garden/office/landscape situations. Take single specimen shots and mass planting shots. Remember, you do not know how the pubishers may want to use the image. The standard format these days is JPG or TIFF and all images should be high resolution. Low resolutions images are OK for fast emailing, but always have high resolution images available on request.
- Consider giving specimens away to significant media personalities, publications or horticulturists. A positive experience with these plants may encourage these people to mention the plants in future articles, etc.
- Budget your media – allocate a proportion of the investment into spending on brochures, banners, fliers, radio, print and online media avenues. Do not put all your eggs in one basket as you will not reach your target market.
- Work with media, but do not expect media to feel obliged to give you anything for free. Do you work for free? If you answer ’no’, then remember neither do they.
These points are here to jog your brain cells. They are not comprehensive. Please feel free to add more points to help others who may be launching or releasing new plants. Add comments below by pressing on the COMMENTS button.
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