Why the Promotional Initiative Should be Opposed
1. Government Involvement
Why are the originators of this initiative so interested in getting USDA
involved with this effort? One reason is that if this initiative were to pass,
USDA would facilitate the revenue collection process as they did with
Promoflor. This means that whether you were in favor of it or not, you
would be forced to pay. Flower handlers reluctant to pay assessments
for Promoflor found out what happens if you refuse to pay up: they were
all hauled into court and every one lost. You pay or else! Smacks of the
IRS!
2. Little Support Outside Bureaucrats
We should assume that most of the current supporters of this initiative
have the best of intentions. After all, who could be against promotion?
And we all should know by now that consumer sales of flowers are
flat or declining. But this initiative has relatively little support outside
leaders of industry associations and a few large floral companies.
And it seems unlikely that if these trade associations were to survey
their constituencies, they would get broad support. Why would they
when there has been no serious discussion of the potential negatives
of this initiative up until now? It seems most likely that the reason for
the support they have now is that it is an easy solution to the problems
we face with declining demand for fresh flowers. Certainly much easier
to support a promotion effort than to implement the other solution most
supported before this initiative: correcting the flaws in the flower
distribution system that have eroded consumer confidence in the value
of flowers. But, of course, that requires work to achieve, unlike the
promotion initiative, once it is put into play.
3. Bad Timing
It should be obvious to anyone paying attention for the past year or so, that
we have been told by many of our best flower researchers why we have not
been able to increase consumer consumption of flowers. The "White Paper"
that was released by Drs Reid and Staby clearly established a link between
the lack of consumer demand and the lack of proper treatments of flowers,
especially the cool chain. There recommendations were quickly supported
by many of the same group that now seem to support a different solution,
promotion of flowers to consumers. And it was Dr. Reid, one of the co-authors
of the White Paper, that wrote in an article entitled How can we sell more
flowers? "Sporatic efforts by the industry to increase sales through marketing
campaigns have been often doomed to failure because the flowers that are on
offer give poor customer satisfaction." In other words, if you promote flowers
to consumers, but those consumers have bad experiences with flowers, the
promotional efforts will surely fail to KEEP consumers. Promotion Initiative
organizers want to promote flowers BEFORE our flower handling problems
THAT THEY HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED are solved. THIS IS BACKWARDS!
4. Unnecessary
Flowers are products that fall into a consumer category called "discretionery
products." These are products that consumers don't HAVE to buy, but WANT
to buy. While "generic" promotion of flowers sounds reasonable, it fails to
pass the test when examining what other competitive "discretionary"
industries have done. Those competitive industries (frequently referred to by
the organizers of our last promotional effort, Promoflor) include wine, candy,
jewelry, and other gift products. So how much are these other competitive
industries spending on "generic" promotions? ZERO! Yet, despite the lack of
"generic" promotion these other industries have passed floral in total sales
and are growing strong while we struggle.
5. Would be Managed by People Who Know Nothing about a Promotional
Effort of this Scale
No one involved with this promotional initiative has any experience with an
effort of this scale. Supporters might claim that they would find an organization
outside the floral industry that does. But that still leaves open the question:
Who will manage them? As with previous promotional efforts, the attitude was
"wait and see the results." The real winners if this initiative passes will be
the advertising and promotion companies and administrative staff that will get
millions of dollars in fees and salaries.
6. It Needs to be Opposed
This is an important point because if those who are opposed to this effort
do not speak up in opposition, this initiative will probably pass. Everyone
in the floral industry should examine both sides, not just the initiative
supporter's side, and make their own decision whether to support this or not.
7. Wrong Effort
There seems to be some confusion in the floral industry about the nature of
this promotional initiative. Some have called it a "marketing order" which is
is incorrect. It is a "promotion order." Big difference. Here's what Dr. Marvin
Miller of Ball Horticultural wrote in the July 19th issue of SAF's E-Brief when
he discussed a similar initiative, Promoflor: "..a marketing order 'is used to
set up grades and standards, shipping regulations or conditions which are
in effect when selling agricultural products.'" "A promotion order is used to
'collect monies which can be used for promotion, education or research.'"
The confusion is certainly understandable, since the word "marketing" is
used frequently in initiative press releases and updates. For instance,
Charles Kremp, one of the initiative's organizers, said this in a July 13th
initiative update: "The one issue that is foremost is that the industry as a
whole wants this marketing effort and must realize that it will mean an
increase in product costs. If either of those two points is not agreed to, we
should pack it in. Do you want a marketing effort? Will you accept higher
prices?"
The answers to both questions should be a resounding NO! We don't need
to be paying $50,000,000 or more for promotion at this time. Or pay for more
research when we aren't even properly applying the research that has already
been done. And we shouldn't accept higher prices for the same flowers that
we now know haven't as yet been properly handled!
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
THIS INITIATIVE SHOULD BE VOTED DOWN!
Action Steps in Opposing the Promotional Initiative
1. Cut and paste or copy this post and send it to those within
the floral industry that you care about. Be sure to tell them
to forward this to all of their industry associates without fail!
2. Attend SAF's Convention in Naples (Sept. 27-30) where the
next meeting will be taking place.
3. Send your opinions to Marlene Betts of the USDA
Marlene.Betts@usda.gov (202) 702-9915
fax: (202) 205-2800
Mention: Floral Promotion Order in all communications
4. Talk to others about this issue and provide them with this
information
