Record number of Thanks Plants Shopper Activations in 2021

Looking back at three of the eleven activations

In 2021 we launched eleven shopper activations as part of the Thanks Plants campaign. We did this in our core countries - the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and France - and in Spain. The activations translated the Thanks Plants message to the shopfloor. By carefully monitoring and measuring the results, we can apply the acquired knowledge straightaway for future sales promotions. We share the results of 3 of the Thanks Plants 2021 shopper activations below.

Bakker.com - Online promotion with anthurium and bromeliad

Our first activation was a collaboration with online plant shop Bakker.com and a collaboration with Elho planters, the promotion collectives Anthurium Info and Bromelia, and the Flower Council of Holland. The promotion took place in all four core countries.
The offer: Buy an anthurium/bromeliad and receive a free Elho pot. The aim was to attract as many consumers as possible to the Bakker.com promotion page and to tempt them to the point of sale.

Results & highlights:  

• The online targets were achieved. In total almost 7.7 million impressions were generated, and the campaign achieved over 55,000 clicks.
• Quantitative research amongst consumers showed that 21% of respondents were aware of the Bakker.com promotion, and the campaign was given a rating of 7. Half the respondents felt the offer was attractive enough to make a purchase.

Key learnings: 
Despite the large number of visits to the purchase page, the sales conversion was disappointing. Research needs to establish whether this was because of the timing, the offer and/or the purchasing process on Bakker.com.

Albert Heijn – The Top 10 Houseplants 
This was the shopper activation with the largest number of partners so far: Waterdrinker, growers’ promotion collectives Anthurium, Air So Pure, Bromelia Specialist, and Orchidee Nederland, Pokon, Albert Heijn, and the Flower Council of Holland. Because all parties invested in this promotion, there were a lot of scope in terms of promotion and all parties reaped the benefits. The activation took place at over 700 AH supermarkets, and introduced a new type of activation offering, namely temporarily putting specific products in the spotlight. The aim of the Albert Heijn Top 10 Houseplants was to increase sales of houseplants by temporarily devoting more shop space to a diverse offering of plants.

Results & highlights:

• We produced a special booklet (insert) to include in AH’s Allerhande customer magazine, with which we reached 2.2 million consumers.
• The sales target was comfortably achieved.
• The offering of plants really stood out because of the diversity and size of the range, and thanks to the eye-catching in-store marketing with display posters and printed sleeves.
• Albert Heijn was enthusiastic about this promotion, and deployed additional marketing: street advertising, displays, the Bonus leaflet and digital screens.

Key learnings: 
Creating a tidy display of ten different plants on different trolleys is challenging. There was also insufficient space to place the Top 10 in the correct order in the stores.

Rewe – Repeat activation with bromeliad and orchid

In Germany we rolled out a shopper activation in 3000 REWE supermarkets. A joint effort by REWE, Greenyard, Orchidee Nederland, De Bromelia Specialist and the Flower Council of Holland. The offer was: buy an orchid or bromeliad and receive a free scent card (week 30) or plant conditioner (week 41). The promotion had two aims: on the one hand to improve the display on the shopfloor, and on the other hand to introduce an unfamiliar product (bromeliad) alongside the promotion of a familiar product (orchid). We were thereby able to reduce product waste of orchids and bromeliads by 10%.

Results & highlights:

• Pflanzenfreude.de launched a social media campaign targeting the consumers who had seen the Danke Pflanzen campaign. We engaged them with this special offer with a reach that exceeded expectations.
• By ‘linking’ two plants, we were able to get the bromeliad onto Rewe’s shelves.
• We created a plug-and-play in-store display on a euro container, where the product was rolled into the store, complete with the correct marketing.
• The sales targets for both products were achieved.

Key learnings: 
Following earlier activations at Rewe, we had noticed that the biggest challenge lies in achieving a neat in-store display.  We are seeing improvements each year, but this time we noticed that a significant number of stores did not make optimum use of the display possibilities.

Complete list of all Thanks Plants Shopper Activations in 2021

1. Aldi supermarkets, Germany: Receive free orchid food when you buy orchids
2. Aliat garden centres, Spain: Free plant pot when you buy an orchid 
3. Groenrijk garden centres, The Netherlands: Receive a free mini anthurium when you buy two anthuriums
4. Rewe supermarkets, Germany:  Free tropical scent card when you buy an orchid or bromeliad 
5. Jumbo supermarkets, The Netherlands: Receive a free orchid pot when you buy an orchid
6. Bakker.com online, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and France: Receive a free Elho pot when you buy a bromeliad or anthurium 
7. Jumbo supermarkets, The Netherlands: A free watering system when you buy a Thanks Plants houseplant
8. Rewe supermarkets, Germany: Free plant food when you buy an orchid or bromeliad 
9. Albert Heijn supermarkets, The Netherlands: The Top 10 houseplants 
10. Jumbo supermarkets, The Netherlands: Receive a free orchid pot when you buy an orchid (repeat week 34) 
11. E.Leclerc supermarkets, France: Free orchid food when you buy orchids                                                                      

More information
For more about our Shopper Activations and what they could do for your business, please contact Ivo van Orden, Manager Activation, at ivanorden@bloemenbureauholland.nl or call +31(0)651 10 7012.

                  
_{January 2022}