"The perception of the rose needs to be changed"

The red rose, who doesn’t know this flower? This flower can be used in bouquets but also works perfectly as a single rose. It can be used for different occasions and can have several meanings. The younger generation, in particular, are eager to buy a red rose as a sign of love. "Even with this willingness, this generation doesn't buy it often enough and this is probably due to their current perception of the rose. The consumer needs to know more about the rose, hence, marketing is necessary. This might be a long process and a hard goal to achieve, but it is needed" explains Aad Roodenburg of Rosa Natura; a nursery that grows RedNaomi! in a 9ha greenhouse in the Netherlands.

"A rose isn’t a flower that is regularly bought to furnish homes, although the product can have a vase life of up to two weeks", explains Roodenburg. Additionally, the rose is perceived by the customers as expensive. “When we ask customers, especially the younger generation, what they think the price of a rose would be, they tend to over price. Therefore, the way the rose is perceived is demanding a change."

In order to transfer this perception, Rosa Natura co-formed RosaHolland; a cooperation of 17 Dutch growers that grow, market and promote high quality RedNaomi! roses worldwide, will be taken on board. Their promotion activities seem to be successful. Lately, their "In case of love at first sight" outdoor advertisement was ranked by Adweek as one of the most brilliant outdoor advertisements that rocked the world in 2014. 1,500 little red boxes, that look similar to emergency boxes, were placed all over Paris, France. Each boxed contained a red rose and “In case of love at first sight, break glass,” was written on the box.

Another innovative promotion activity was executed during a charity campaign, called Serious Request and was broadcast on Dutch Television. During this campaign, 1,600 roses were sold on the market square and 100 RedNaomi! roses were sold to the highest bidder and the received money was donated to the charity fund.

"Even with these successful promotions, we still have a long way to go" explains Roodenburg. In order to change the perception of the customer and especially that of the younger generation more promotional activities need to be carried out. "We, as a cooperation, are on the right track and eventually the customers' love for high quality roses will be recalled."

For more information
Rosa Natura
Aad Roodenburg
Email: [email protected]
www.rosanatura.nl