16 Apr 2007


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Be a Retail Industry Award winner: Talking Retail's how to guide

Flowers

Retail Industry Awards

Jo Read from the Flower Council of Holland shares information and tips for retailers using last year's Fresh Flower Supermarket of the Year winner as a case study

Imagine the sponsors who would line up if industry awards were determined by telephone votes? And then imagine what that might do for head office's involvement.

Perish the thought, but would they mandate their staff to make a set number of calls every day? This could backfire, of course, as disgruntled employees might be tempted to vote for the opposition. Would we then see the introduction of freephones in shops? On second thoughts, this idea would probably mean the end of the traditional judges' lunch, so perhaps it's best forgotten after all.

These irreverent thoughts popped into my head when I heard awards in general described as little more than beauty parades. Now I know we always see a long list of beauties at the Oscars, but at industry awards…?

This year is the sixth the Flower Council of Holland, on behalf of the Dutch flower exporters, has sponsored the Fresh Flower Supermarket of the Year Award. We introduced the award to raise the profile of the flowers and houseplants department so very senior management in the major multiples had a clearer appreciation of what flowers and plants deliver, and greater understanding of the potential this new category still offers for growth and development.

In the last five years the award has been won twice by Tesco and once each by Marks & Spencer, Asda and Waitrose. For all of them, the award has been peer group recognition of excellence and achievement, but for some of them it has been a powerful marketing tool as well.

Shouting from the fixture

Marks & Spencer (M&S) flagged its success in-store by heavily branding its headerboards and proclaiming its success with a single colour, but prominent, sticker on every bunch and bouquet throughout the whole year.

M&S was so chuffed it even ran advertisements in The Daily Mail. In essence, it used the award as the fulcrum around which its entire flower and plant marketing programme for the year revolved.

Two years ago, Asda featured its success in its magazine with its 10 million monthly readership. Colleagues in-store even wore t-shirts proudly boasting of their award win. And to make sure the message was not missed, Asda too branded its p-o-s and headerboards and stickered bunches with the statement of its success. Much as M&S had done two years earlier, the award was the centre piece of its marketing efforts for the year.

Motivating staff and customers

For the current holder of the award, Waitrose, it was a case of same again but different. Having launched its innovative sub-brand, “Blossom and Bloom”, only three months earlier in June, Waitrose was clearly not going to compromise its communication, so any addition of the winning message would have to blend with the brand execution.

Sue Steptoe, Waitrose's central buyer for horticulture, said: “We were absolutely delighted to win the award. It was the first year that Waitrose entered and it is definitely recognition of all the hard work the team has put in developing the category as whole, and the Blossom and Bloom brand specifically.”

Although it knew effective in-store communication of the award was central to getting the most benefit from the win, Waitrose bided its time until it felt sure the Blossom and Bloom brand was ready for a sub message.

At the beginning of this year the time was judged right and the winning line has since been prominent on fixture header boards in-stores and in the monthly flower or plant focused articles in Waitrose's Seasons and New magazines, which have a combined readership of 935,000.

“This has supported the brand positioning: it reaffirms the excellence of our offer: it has been carried through on promotional material for the 'peaks' which has further differentiated us from the market: it has provoked interest among customers, and it has generated tremendous pride amongst the Waitrose Partners.

“And the respect of the Partners is probably as important as anything else, because their pride transfers to an even more impressive fixture, and care and handling at a consistently higher level. And that, without doubt, drives sales forward,” adds Steptoe.

It's entry time

If retailing success comes from product, price, positioning, customer analysis and distribution, it also partly comes from the power of your lungs. And let's be honest, there are great songs and …not so great songs. The story of an award gives you a great song to sing to everyone who has to listen.

I would suggest, therefore, the Fresh Flower Supermarket of the Year Award is not so much a beauty parade as a catwalk for champions to crow about their success.

And this year's champion will be judged by slightly different criteria. The judges will not only be looking for evidence of your current success but also for your understanding, and indicative ideas, on how you will address and respond to the ever changing demands of the customer in the future.

So don't miss out.

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