"It has been a successful campaign for all participants. We learned a lot and will do it even better next time," says Semia Dunne, president and creative director at SEMIA Studio, the floral lifestyle division of floral design enterprise SEMIA. In April, Semia Studio and White Flower Farm nursery, launched their 'Thank you, Mom' campaign in celebration of Mother's Day. This initiative, predominantly driven through social media channels, aimed to express gratitude to mothers and caregivers for their support and affection. Semia and Liz Murphy, head of marketing at Semia, reflect on this campaign that was predominantly driven through social media channels. In this article they give some insight into the result, and the experiences that will inspire the next campaign.
Semia Dunne
"Fun, fresh, and current"
Semia Studio and White Flower Farm decided to take their joint marketing efforts a step further to attract a new demographic: "We were looking to expose the brands to a wider demographic and new categories, including Gen Z," Semia explained. "White Flower Farm is a family-owned mail-order nursery and garden company which has grown a large and loyal customer base primarily via its successful catalog and email marketing strategies. Our companies have had a wonderful partnership for a number of years, but this was our first complete joint marketing effort."
"To attract new audiences we worked with the team at White Flower Farm to brainstorm a campaign that would feel fun, fresh, and current." Liz noted. "For this reason, we opted for a social media campaign. The campaign was launched shortly before the Mother's Day season, as it is one of the busiest times in the floriculture industry."
She elaborates: "As the campaign was primarily driven through social media, the marketing team spent a considerable amount of time establishing partnerships with influencers: We focused on a number of content categories including floral, garden-design, home-design, real-estate, and mum influencers. Outside of these core targets we tested the campaign with a few Gen Z content creators. In the end we worked with nine influencers. It's not easy to find the right influencers, and it can be hard to reach them when you do. However, when they see a campaign that they feel really resonates with their brand, it's a perfect fit. This was the case in our partnership with U.S. Paralympic track and field athlete, Noelle Lambert. She loved the campaign and the idea to use flowers to express her gratitude to her mother for all of her support."
Aside from this attention to social media, the campaign also involved the launch of new floral designs. Semia says: "We developed some new designs to bring a fresh perspective on the arrangements. We changed color palettes, and tried alternative bouquet compositions. As an example, we marketed a bouquet consisting of Ranunculus only, in place of a mixed-bouquet. In addition, we included Expression Roses in our Mother's Day assortment."
An impression of the floral designs
Successes and lessons learned
According to Semia, the campaign was a positive experience: "It has been a successful campaign for all participants. It's really fun to watch how it unfolded, what all the efforts translated into. We managed to drive many new customers to our products and brands, both to that of White Flower Farm and Semia." Liz shares some statistics to illustrate the campaign's reach, saying: "During the campaign, the total Instagram following among our influencer partners was more than 2 million. The campaign ran from April 22nd through Mother's Day, and in this time period our partners participated with more than 35 social actions, including posts, reels, and stories."
Yet, Semia and Liz point out that even though the overall result was a positive one, there is always room for improvement. For instance, when it comes to the start date of the campaign. "We could have started four weeks earlier; repetition is key among potential new customers. That's one big take away. We also learned a lot about working with influencers –who's a fit for this kind of campaign and who is not. We look forward to next year and are also thinking of launching a campaign for other great gifting moments."
Semia already has a clear idea on what this campaign should be about, she says: "The heart of this campaign was about spreading joy. For me that's what it's all about. Next time, we also want to focus on the emotional aspect of flowers. In other words, well-being: how they make you feel, and how it makes others feel when they receive them."
For more information:
SEMIA Studio
www.flowersbysemia.com
White Flower Farm
www.whiteflowerfarm.com