Of all the marketing trends we saw at this year’s OFA Short Course, probably the most pervasive was the use of 2D Codes.

Of all the marketing trends we saw at this year’s OFA Short Course, probably the most pervasive was the use of 2D Codes. Although it’s still a relatively new technology – barcodes designed for smart phone readers have really only been around for a couple of years, and only a handful were evident at last year’s Short Course – the codes were popping up everywhere in the convention center in 2011.

The technology clearly has resonated with the industry as a quick and easy way to deliver information to customers, whether they are growers, retailers or consumers. Check out this slideshow with just a few of the creative ways the ornamentals industry is getting into 2D Codes.

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Today's Garden Center hosted a series of quick educational sessions in the OFA Marketing Lab to explain the ins and outs of using QR Codes and MS Tags as marketing tools for your business.

Yesteryear themes evoke a sense of fun in merchandising displays.

Vintage props add a touch of whimsy at several garden centers on the OFA Short Course Retail Tour.

Strader's in Columbus use 50s era chairs to anchor color blocked plants. Across the aisles was the same chair with red trim and red products.

A scavenged TV upholds Baker's Acres reputation for humor within the garden center.

In the restrooom, this odd combination of vintage image and modern message enterains those sitting on the pot.

Vegetables and herbs gain market share within the garden centers on the Retail Tour.

Wilson's Garden Center devotes a great deal of floor space to edibles. These herbs hold pride of place along the back wall within the main building. Vegetables claim a fair portion of the greenhouse.

Why settle for 100% markup on a tomato when customers are happy to buy one with a 500% mark up

Like retailers across the country, garden centers on the OFA Short Course Retail Tour say their edible plant sales are multiplying. What was remarkable was that at a few stores report that vegetables and herbs are neck and neck with perennials for total annual sales.

Not only are edibles claiming a swath of real estate within the stores, their margins are remarkably healthy. The greenhouse buyer at Hoover Gardens told me that she bought 10-inch tomatoes this year for between $7 and $7.50 wholesale. The plant itself was tall and loaded with fruit. The supplier had wired a tomato cage to the container. She placed a $24.99 price tag on it and it sold out within a couple of days.

Back on the bus, on the tourists told us about a similar experience. She bought tomato plugs for less than a dollar and grew them to saleable size. She estimates that the costs involved with growing brought the cost up to between $3 and $4. She added in a $1 tomato cage, which brought her total costs to less than $5. She sold it for $30.

Sid Raisch explains how to design a pricing formula that guarantees profit, rather than waiting to see how much of each sales dollar you have left at the end of the year.

Profit isn’t just what is left at the end of the year. You need to plan for it.

“Profit is the result of specific intent,” Sid Raisch told retailers in his Mixed Containers: Pricing and Profit session.

Most people set a price based on a standard markup, and then accept the profit left – sometimes just a couple of percent – after paying the Cost of Good Sold, operating expense, and wage and wage expense. But that’s looking at things backward Raisch says.

“The first thing you have to do is pay yourself,” he says. “Your first step in the process should be to determine the profit you need from selling that item.”

For example, if you plan for a 10 percent profit on an item, add that to the percent of the price needed to cover operating and wage expenses. The remainder between that total and 100 percent is what’s left for Cost of Goods Sold, he says. “This is what you can afford to pay for the goods you’re going to sell. This may mean making some tough decisions on what you will sell, or require you to work with your vendor on a better price.”  

Chances are, however, even this pricing strategy isn’t enough to ensure that your business will generate the profit you need to thrive over the long haul. To make that happen, you need to add value to your product – and then charge more for that additional value.

“The ‘cost-plus’ pricing model works for COSTCO. It doesn’t work for you. They’re not adding value – they’re profitable because of the sheer amount of volume they sell. You can’t possibly sell enough volume to make up the difference in the discounted price.”

By adding significant value, you can increase the profit percentage in your pricing formula, for example, from 10 to 20 percent. All other things being equal,that means you’ll have 10 percent less of your price to spend on Cost of Good Sold. But that doesn’t mean you have to skimp on your product. Because you’re increasing the price – and profit – by adding value, the percent you spend on the same product will simply be smaller.

Container gardens are a great example of a value added product, he says, where the finished product has much more value that the sum of its components.

“You can get a bigger better price than what you probably are – but you have to earn it. Create an incomparable product and experience. Profit isn’t an option,” Raisch says. “You must have it or you won’t be around long.”

OFA keynote Kit Yarrow shared the new rules for connecting with today's consumers.

Today's fast-paced lifestyle is creating a much different profile of the average American than we had 50 years ago. We're connected online, more visual and less verbal with shorter attention spans. We're guarded and weary of big business, doctors, schools and the government. People are overwhelmed -- with responsibilities and expectations. And most of all, according to consumer psychologist and OFA Short Course keynote speaker Kit Yarrow, we're yearning for more personal connection.

It sounds like a bleak picture, but as marketers, the question we need to ask if how can we help ease the day-to-day expectations and responsibilities the world puts on us? And how can our products and services help?

Here are Yarrow's solutions for connecting with this new audience, relate to their needs and help them find solutions.

Make it personal. Involve your customers with your brand. People feel they're not always heard. Letting customers rate your products and particpate in advisory boards, as well as integrating social media into your marketing can help consumers be heard. Look at consumer as a medium in themselves. They have connections to other people. They can act as a huge megaphone.

The secret to being a cool company? Make your customers feel cool. Food trucks are cool because when they send out tweets about where they'll be that day, it makes followers feel like an insider. You can circumvent traditional media channels and still reach a huge number of people.

Ramp it up and make it snappy. Refresh your displays, content, ads and merchandise. Offer limited time-opportunities and respond quickly to your customers questions and comments.

Think benefits and solutions. When someone buys flowers for someone else, the recipient gets a wonderful give, but the giver gets something, too. She's wonder woman! She's the hero. How can your products help a person solve a problem or fill a need?

Technovate. Demonstrate your coolness, caring and smarts by incorporating technology and innovation into products or messaging. "New" combats "bored." "Tried and true doesn't work anymore," Yarrow says. 

Make it visual, contextual, active and intuitive. Show rather than tell.
 

Set the bar high and be very clear about what you want. Your employees will respond.

We’d like to think everyone on our staff has the same stake in the success of the business as we do. “We all want the people who work for us to act like owners,” says Eric Beck, with Total Integration LLC.

That’s easier said than done of course. Whether it’s because an employee doesn’t understand what they’re expected to do, doesn’t have the training or skills to do it correctly, or there are other communication problems, issues invariably arise. An assignment isn’t completed or it’s done wrong and you or another staff member end up spending time correcting the problem.

Many times, Beck says, the owner or manager reacts by getting angry and showing everybody who’s boss. But that can be counterproductive too. “Power works but it doesn’t solve everything. If you’re the general all the time, it won’t work for long. If your staff is scared of you, they won’t tell you the complete truth about things. They’ll tell you what they think you want to hear. And you can’t make good business decisions without the best information,” he says.

Communication and setting explicit expectations for everything will make a big difference. Most of your staff members want to work hard and help your business succeed, Beck says, but without a good system in place, you essentially discourage that. “You have to be organized – set clear expectations for who does what. A good system educates the user – help them understand why this task is important to the business or the customer.”

Handing the staff a checklist of duties isn’t enough on its own. Beck says it’s important to have a timeframe for every task on the list. Also, it’s important to make the expected outcomes very clear. “Otherwise, how do I know I did it right? We assume they know the goal of the list.”

Finally, you need to monitor the results. “You have to manage the staff and follow up on their results. Reward great results well. But there has to be a consequence when someone continually falls short of clearly stated expectations. Sometimes, you have to fire someone, but that’s also a learning opportunity about expectations for the rest of your staff,” Beck says.

Signs worth looking at on the east side of Columbus, Ohio.

Looking for sign inspriation? There was plenty to be had on Saturday, July 9, during the OFA Short Course Retail Tour.

Baker's Acres spells out exactly why scented geraniums are a must-buy: dried leaves left in the sugar bowl add a great flavor; or try them in sachets or even leave it as a houseplant!	Wilson's Greenhouse makes it's informational sign easy to read and understand.
Strader's Garden Center uses a printed banner for its roadside sign. With interior lights, it's a good fit for nighttime illumination. Although theoretically, a printed banner would allow for frequent change, the quality of this sign is strong enough that it hasn't been changed since the new system was put in place.	Wilson's entices gardeners to improve their chances of success with its 1-2-3 program of plant feeding. It promotes three products, and if the customer buys in, then he or she gets two more years on their plant guarantee.

Try out some of these amazing plant combinations!

Some of the retailers we visited on the OFA Short Course Retail Tour on Saturday, July 9, have found a way to amp up the volume with their combination planters.

Hoover Gardens plants up the popular moss purses with the even more popular succulents.	Hoover Gardens had several ironwork planters and hanging baskets that its talented staff potted up with contrasting shades of green.
Looking for a use for those dinky Radio Flyers? Pot them up and let them fly.	Baker's Acres has a deft touch with irresistible color combinations.

We're all working harder, but the extra effort may actually be making us less productive.

The lineup at OFA Short Course 2011 has a little bit of something for everyone.

There will be more than 100 educational sessions at OFA Short Course, including garden center, greenhouse and management & marketing tracks. Take a peek inside these session and all the other events happening at OFA Short Course, including our Evening of Excellence, right here. Stay tuned!