Vancouver Orchid Society
Marketing Plan
2014 Show & Sale – March 22 to 23
Prepared by: Rebecca Tow
rebeccatow@gmail.com
February 2014
OVERVIEW
What is the Vancouver Orchid Society (VOS)?
The VOS is a non-profit organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that is
powered by its members and volunteers who are passionate about growing orchids, sharing
horticultural knowledge and celebrating the beauty and diversity of the plant. The Society
supports its members by providing culture classes, special guest lectures, access to
extensive information and exclusive presales of plants. Community outreach and
involvement are also important to the VOS; members are active in the community by
volunteering at various garden clubs and events (e.g. Orchid Obsessions at GardenWorks).
Funds for the VOS are raised through various small-scaled events throughout the year and
most importantly the annual VOS Show & Sale, the single largest revenue generator for the
Society. In addition, membership dues help cover a portion of annual expenses.
What is the annual VOS Show & Sale?
The annual Show & Sale is a three day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) event held in the spring
at the VanDusen Botanical Garden. Day one consists of set-up and a private ribbon judging
and preview exclusive to members (and their guests) in the evening. The remaining two
days are open to the public with an area for orchid display and another space set aside for
plant and supplies sales by commercial vendors, hobby growers and orchid societies.
Orchids registered for display may also be entered to be judged by the American Orchid
Society.
Attendance for the Show & Sale have been experiencing a steady decline over the years.
Orchid societies across North America are facing the same problem. In 2013, there were
700 attendees for the three day event, compared to over 1,000 at one point in time.
Past marketing activities for VOS Show & Sale
Marketing efforts have been focused on paid and free print ads (e.g. The Province, The
Vancouver Sun, Xtra), print collateral (i.e. posters) and some media coverage. A tactic used
to encourage attendance was $1 off coupons and complimentary tickets to select audiences.
Online presence
VOS has a website and Facebook page.
http://www.vancouverorchidsociety.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/VancouverOrchidSociety
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal is to increase attendance at the three-day event. The objective is to reach 1,000
attendees at the 2014 Show & Sale.
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TARGET MARKET
Primary target market
The VOS targets men and women aged 60 to 75 in Greater Vancouver (i.e. West/North
Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster, Burnaby, Delta, Surrey, Langley,
White Rock, Coquitlam) who are experienced gardening/horticultural enthusiasts. They are
mainly retired with a higher disposable income that has the time and money to spend on
this hobby. Dedicated hobbyists can easily spend a minimum one hour per day tending to
their plants. They particularly enjoy the experiential, hands-on and social aspects of being a
part of a club, organization or community of like-minded horticulturalists. The in-person
interactions with fellow enthusiasts are especially important because they share knowledge
and tips with each other (i.e. at monthly meetings and culture classes). In addition,
opportunities to buy rare/unique plants are a motivator to stay connected and in the know.
On the other hand, they are also often introverted and like to spend time alone, patiently
caring for their plants.
This target market is genuinely passionate about growing plants and does not do it for
status. They are nature lovers who appreciate the beauty and diversity of our living world
and are environmentally conscious. They also love travelling and eating good food and are
conscious about living a healthy lifestyle. Lastly, a few common characteristics among this
group are, meticulous, organized and persistent.
Secondary Target Market
A market that VOS wants to direct some of its resources focusing on are male and females
aged 18 to 34 who are horticultural students or hobbyists. This group currently is the
Generation Y, also known as the Millennials. They are a large, diverse and young group of
influential consumers. They are the first cohort who has grown up in the digital era from an
early age, making them a connected group through its interaction with digital technology.
This also means they have access to a lot of information and can get it quickly. As a result,
majority of young hobbyists go online for easy access to free resources and social media
platforms (i.e. forums, social networks) to interact with others and/or obtain and share
information.
Although they are a diverse group, here are some key characteristics they share: Millennial
consumers more or less value social networking, demand transparency and authenticity, are
active (not passive) consumers, exercise a high level of influence over others, and require
much more from branded experiences.
More research needs to be done to understand how these young gardening enthusiasts
practice this hobby, what their precise wants and needs are and what they are like. They
may not be inclined to attend monthly meetings like their parents, but instead they may
find value in having information delivered to them two to three times a week via the
Facebook Newsfeed or by checking an online forum daily. The benefits of being a VOS
member needs to be in line with the benefits they seek and how they want to obtain those
benefits.
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POSITIONING
The Vancouver Orchid Society is positioned as a community of passionate orchid growers
who are knowledgeable, dependable and welcoming to all - from beginner enthusiasts to
experienced hobbyists. They support members in three ways:
1) Community – Encourage social interactions (in-person and online) and exchange of
knowledge with each other.
2) Education - An organization where one can obtain first-hand valuable information on
orchids; VOS is the “go to” local expert.
3) Exclusive opportunities for viewing and sales – Provide opportunities to purchase
rare/unique orchids at shows and monthly meetings.
Social Media Personality
The following are personality traits that VOS should keep in mind when participating in
social media activities: Friendly, approachable, expert, knowledgeable, dependable, caring,
social and passionate. These can be conveyed through tone of voice and type of content
shared.
STRATEGY
Build and strengthen relationships with existing members. By leveraging the passion and
strength of existing members they can become brand ambassadors/advocates. They can
help reach the primary target market and help spread the good word about VOS.
There is an understanding of the growing importance of an online presence for
organizations. People are going online to obtain information and/or socialize with their
networks. VOS can continue what they do best and show that offline (in-person) and online.
The online and offline channels can co-exist and enhance the overall experience of
members. They don’t need to work in silo. In-person and online, members and potential
members should feel they can count on VOS for everything orchids (and maybe this
includes local horticultural information).
Within the VOS community, the social aspect is a key benefit for members. It creates a
sense of community and fosters and promotes the education of orchids and horticulture.
Nowadays, you can be social in-person and online. VOS can also show their strength of
being social on social media platforms. VOS emphasizes the importance and benefits of inperson social interactions in learning and appreciating the beauty of orchids. This will
continue to be an important aspect of this hobby, but the experience can be complemented
with an online component. Lastly, working towards a more prominent online presence
increases the likelihood of gaining momentum with the secondary target market.
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TACTICS/ACTION PLAN
Print
Paid/free advertising
This year VOS booked an ad buy with The Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Courier and the
BC Council of Garden Clubs. Please refer to the spreadsheet for a breakdown of the paid
space. Note: Vancouver Courier buy includes an online campaign with a big box ad.
Potential free opportunities include:
•
•
Contact local/community newspapers for filler ad (sponsored) availabilities
Contact newspaper publications to write a feature/article on the event. See Toronto
Star examples below. A Pitch Note needs to be written and emailed to the Editor.
2013 - http://bit.ly/1pecNLZ
2012 - http://bit.ly/1jr6D7A
Posters
VOS printed 200 posters for distribution to various locations such as, community centres,
florists, garden centres, assisted living retirement homes, post-secondary schools and local
coffee shops/restaurants that are frequented by the primary target audience.
TV
English
There is potential exposure on ShawTV Area Channel 4. This includes the community events
bulletin and submitting a feature story idea to go! Vancouver. The show go! Vancouver is
hosted by Johanna Ward and is a lifestyle magazine program that profiles people, places
and events across Metro Vancouver.
Chinese
Fairchild TV is the main Chinese TV station in Canada with a local studio in Vancouver. It
broadcasts local and overseas programming in Cantonese. The opportunities are:
1) Free announcement for local events for different groups/societies on their
Community Event Bulletin, which broadcasts daily at 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, 9:55 pm
and 11:30 pm; repeats the same broadcast for one week.
Need to submit event details (i.e. event name, date/time, location, contact person
and phone number) three weeks before event (March 1st) in Chinese to Fairchild TV
(community@fairchildtv.com or fax to 604-295-1300).
2) Leisure Talk is a local talk show program which invites people of interests to share
their expertise on a wide range of topics. It is filmed in Vancouver from April to
September while the other half year is filmed in Toronto.
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Since filming starts in April in Vancouver, there is a post-event marketing
opportunity. They require VOS to submit a short proposal to the show’s Producers
explaining why they should invite VOS to their program.
3) Segment during news on Fridays that talk about local events on the weekend.
Radio
English
Similar to print publications, requests to be mentioned on radio stations are on a paid basis
and are equally expensive. If resources allows, seek opportunities to be on community
events announcements on various radio stations, such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Virgin Radio 95.3
The Beat 94.5 (Bell Media)
103.5 QM/FM (Bell Media)
CFMI FM Rock 101 (Corus Radio)
News1130 (Rogers Media)
96.9 JackFM (Rogers Media)
SONiC (Rogers Media)
Chinese
Fairchild Radio is a member of the Fairchild Group - a Chinese Canadian multicultural radio
network with stations in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
Good Morning Vancouver is a morning show in Cantonese which brings the latest news in
entertainment, current events, lifestyle and music. It runs from 6 am – 8 am from Monday
to Friday.
•
•
The host is willing to briefly mention VOS/event on the show before the event.
VOS is required to submit a short script (in Chinese) for the host. This has been
discussed with Calvin Wong and he is putting together the script.
Deadline: Did not specify but VOS should submit the script at least two weeks
prior to event to leave sufficient time for the host to plan his show’s schedule.
Online
Online opportunities include being active and relevant on Facebook, actively seeking out
local bloggers and participating in forums. In addition, a great way to get some exposure is
submitting requests to community events listings (refer to spreadsheet under “Free Opps”
tab).
Facebook
The current VOS page does a good job in keeping “fans” informed about upcoming events
and sharing event content such as photos and descriptions. The page also shows the
Society’s passion and involvement by liking other societies and clubs’ Facebook pages and
by sharing photos of members’ plants. Taking a quick glance through the VOS page, the
types of posts that tend to do well in “engaging” the audience are: nice photography, an
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orchid photo with a description about the owner, photos from events with a description.
Some insights from this are: Visuals draw people in, the audience likes to know what’s
going on in the community, and the orchids come to life and are more relatable when
attached to a person’s name or a story.
The Society’s presence on social media platforms should be consistent with its social media
personality as mentioned above in Positioning. Keep this in mind when putting together
posts and selecting content to post. Also, VOS is positioned as the “local expert” and “go to”
for advice on this topic and therefore, should offer regular opinion, share relevant content
and offer advice and information on orchids/horticulture.
The VOS page currently has 132 Likes as of February 23, 2014. It would be a good idea to
look at the profile of these “fans” to try and gain some knowledge on who they are (e.g.
gender, age, lifestyle). These are the people who are seeing VOS posts!
Below are several tactics:
1) Update cover photo to include a few event details (name, date, location) – see
Appendix A – Figure 1
2) Encourage members and Executive team to share event specific social media images.
VOS has a collection of beautiful photos. Select two to three photos and add a few
event details (event name, date, location, logo, URL) on them. The image should be
kept simple and clean. More customized information can be included in the post
description. – see Appendix A – Figure 2 to Figure 4
3) Create excitement leading up to the event by giving the audience teaser event
details. This should highlight the benefits of attending and/or special portions of the
event that would be valuable to attendees (e.g. well known guest speaker, repotting
service, etc).
• Start a countdown to the event three weeks prior. Once a week, uncover
something about the event that potential attendees would look forward to.
Attach each post with a visual like a photo or video.
• Invite “fans” to submit photos and stories of their most prized orchid.
Submissions can be sent via Facebook private messages or VOS email. Three
weeks leading up to the event, feature one to two stories per week. The
Facebook post would be a snapshot of each story and the full story can be on
the next newsletter or posted somewhere on the VOS website. This shows the
Society’s sense of community, and caring and passionate nature in getting to
know fellow enthusiasts. This is an attempt to get followers involved. Call out
for submission and selection process to begin week of February 24.
When posting on Facebook, encourage your audience to Like, Comment or Share the post.
People are more likely to do it if you tell them to. Some tips to keep in mind when using
Facebook:
•
•
Post when fans are not working (i.e. 8pm to 7am, “non-busy” hours)
Best days to post are Wednesdays and Sundays (higher “engagement” %)
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•
•
•
Keep it to 1-4 posts per week to avoid overcrowding your fans’ News Feeds
Increase likelihood of commenting by asking questions and using the fill in the blank
strategy (i.e. I grow orchids because…)
Remember, being social requires a two-way conversation!
4) Facebook ads (see Appendix A – Figure 5)
• Increase Facebook page Likes to grow fan base/audience
• Direct ad clicks to VOS website for information on event
Blogs
Blogger outreach is a popular tactic where you find and build a relationship with a wellknown industry blogger(s) who is aligned with your brand. The desired outcome is for the
blogger to write about your product/service and/or organization, which in turn can reach a
handful of targeted readers who trust that particular source. Here are a few tips from
Mashable.com on making the search a little easier (http://on.mash.to/1fo2li6). Some tips
include: look close to you (e.g. people you know, check your social network followers),
reference blog directories and utilize Google products like Google Blog Search.
The first step is to find relevant blogs that are of interest to VOS. For example, Garden
Therapy by Stephanie is a Vancouver based blogger (http://gardentherapy.ca/). Start
following them and research who they are and what type of content they post. Take it one
step further and become involved and build relationships by commenting on posts. Allow the
Society to be seen, known and heard. This will require time and effort to accomplish.
Forums
Though this tactic will take time, it is never too late to start. Sign up on popular forums
relevant to this hobby and start building relationships online. Similar to blogs, participate by
starting and contributing to conversations and become visible on this platform. Assess which
forums your target audience are on and which are best aligned with VOS.
Starting a Digital Journey
Here are a few tips for marketers/organizations who want to jump online
(http://bit.ly/1mtQlfm). The tips are:
•
•
•
•
Grow a personal social media community – you will face similar challenges
when you try to grow your own personal social networks (and likes, comments and
shares), these lessons will help and can be applied to the organization’s social
platforms
Define actionable steps – state a goal/objective and develop and implement a
specific plan
Take an integrated approach – digital initiatives work best when they are
integrated (also with traditional marketing!) rather than a standalone initiative
Talk to seasoned professionals – learn best practices, publications you should
read and common challenges faced
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Incentives
VOS has about 100 complimentary tickets set aside for marketing purposes. Consider places
and people who you want to build/strengthen a relationship with and would be beneficial to
be associated with. These places should help increase the likelihood of getting the primary
and secondary target market to attend the event. Though these attendees will not directly
drive revenue for VOS, it will allow them to experience the event and they may bring their
friends/family with them. The four key places to distribute to are:
• Florists – e.g. The Flower Factory on Main Street in Vancouver
• Garden centres - e.g. GardenWorks, Art Knapp Plantland (various franchised
locations), Phoenix Perennials, David Hunter Garden Centres
• Post-secondary institutions – e.g. UBC Department of Botany (students would
appreciate free tickets because they are likely living on a low budget)
• Show sponsor – Tapestry Wesbrook Village
The Executive team has the knowledge, expertise and networks to know which locations for
each of the above are best aligned with the primary and secondary target audiences.
The Society will also be printing about 2,000 $1.00 off coupons for its members to give
out. These places and people should also be approached to help build and/or strengthen
their connection/potential connection with VOS. Some recommendations are:
•
•
•
•
•
Florists, garden centres, post-secondary schools and show sponsor (same as above)
Assisted living retirement homes
Community centres
Community coffee shops/cafes, restaurants, grocery stores, libraries, senior health
clubs/fitness centres (http://bit.ly/MmdF1h)
Etc…places where the primary target market frequents
The complimentary tickets and/or $1 off coupons can be accompanied with posters as a
package. When approaching these locations, especially those who are new contacts, it is
important to keep the Society’s positioning and overarching strategy in mind to help
formulate/guide conversations with these prospects.
Photographers
VOS will be opening the show an hour early on Sunday morning to photographers only. This
is a new initiative thought up by the Executive team. The Society has two members (Judith
and Ed Higham) who are well connected in the photography community but would like
additional efforts in inviting photographers to this exclusive segment of the event. The
purpose is to reach a potential group that would be interested in attending the show and
create an opportunity for people to talk about and mention VOS. It is an occasion for
professional and aspiring photographers to bring their equipment like tripods, to take
professional grade pictures for stock photo and hobby purposes.
To increase awareness and likelihood of attendance, VOS can ask their members to reach
out to photographers in their networks. A fun way to share this online would be to create a
social media image with an attention grabbing photo with a call out to photographers. This
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can be easily shared among everyone’s social media networks or email. Refer to Appendix B
– Figure 1 to 2.
BUDGET AND RESOURCES
A budget of $1,400 was allocated and used for print advertising. There is an opportunity to
do a Facebook ads campaign to increase page Likes and click through to the VOS website,
but this will require the Executive team to approve $300-$500 for this initiative.
Please refer to the spreadsheet under “Tasks & Deadlines” for a list of proposed tasks and
the leads/resources assigned to each.
MONITORING AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Although it is important to strategize, plan and implement it is also key to track the
Society’s performance on a regular basis. Traditional methods include a post-event debrief
with the Executive team (and volunteers if appropriate) and post-event survey sent to
attendees/members. Discussions in the debrief meeting should cover the successes and
challenges of the marketing tactics used and improvements for next year. If surveys are
used, be sure to track, compare and assess responses year over year to look for areas that
are improving or lacking. Also record event attendance numbers each year.
It is also good practice to monitor the performance of the organization’s social media
platforms (i.e. every three to six months). For starters, VOS should look at the following
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for their Facebook page: number of followers, likes,
shares per post, number of comments and tonality of conversations. These metrics can help
VOS identify if they are attracting more fans, if the fans are more involved and interacting
with the brand; and if there are more interactions and conversations, what are they and are
they positive, negative and/or neutral.
By exercising an evaluation plan, VOS can continuously adjust tactics and test social media
content. Through a trial and error type process, VOS will begin to see what is effective and
what is not.
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APPENDIX A
Disclaimer: below examples include mock ups and are only meant to illustrate the ideas.
Appendix A – Figure 1. Facebook cover photo
Appendix A – Figure 2. Example of shareable social media image
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Appendix A – Figure 2. Example of shareable social media image
Appendix A – Figure 3. Mock-up of VOS social media image
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Appendix A – Figure 3. Mock-up of VOS social media image
Appendix A – Figure 4. Placement mock-up of VOS social media image
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Appendix A – Figure 5. Two Facebook ads mock-ups created for boutique in
Gastown
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Appendix B – Figure 1. Mock-up of social media image for call-out to
photographers
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Appendix B – Figure 2. Idea Board for style of photos for pre-event photographer
call out
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