2 Woman's Day Marketing Themes

2 Woman's Day Marketing Themes

#American Grown Flowers #americangrown #OriginMatters #WomensDay flowers March 8 2015 Women's Day 2015

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  

                                  ~John F. Kennedy

Women’s Day is March 8 and is fast approaching. What is your organization doing to benefit from this groundswell movement? Momentum has been building for the last several years and now the holiday is hitting its stride. Here are two themes on which to focus your marketing efforts.

Honor. The act of honoring someone is perhaps a lost art. Women’s Day aims to bring this idea back into vogue by creating a time and place for people to honor those who have touched their lives. Other flower-giving occasions do this, but it is usually directed at a specific person, like your mother. On Women’s Day you are free to honor your teachers, your mentors, your colleagues and even your siblings or children. Both women and men can participate in this idea of recognizing a special person in their life with flowers. This sentiment resonates strongly with consumers since people need to feel connected and people want to feel appreciated, and frankly both of these sentiments are in short supply in our day-to-day lives.

Respect. Who do you respect in your community? When do you get to show that admiration? For me, it is my son’s schoolteacher. I cannot fathom how she handles a room full of four-year olds with such grace and poise. Whether you are male or female, when you stop and think about the women in your life that you respect, the list gets long quickly. Encouraging consumers to show respect with flowers on March 8th creates positive feelings. We have an innate need to recognize the people who make our lives richer. The ironic part is that many of the women we respect the most may not even realize that we hold them in such high esteem. A simple bunch of tulips on Women’s Day can change this paradigm.

This holiday is a low-pressure, easy-to-manage way to honor and respect those individuals in our lives who matter; those women who make our lives better.


Sun Valley is offering Woman's Day specials on Tulips and Bouquets, so check in with your sales rep.


At store level, this is truly a feel-good event. A few stems of springy iris, or some fragrant lily blooms, are all you need. You can even encourage shoppers to buy bunches of flowers and hand out stems over the course of the day. A single tulip can speak volumes.

Women’s Day lacks the pretense of other flower holidays and, because it happens in spring, flowers are already on consumers’ minds. Talk to your floral departments and make sure they are aware that Women’s Day is on the horizon and that they are engaging customers leading up to March 8 — it will definitely increase sales.

The much-maligned phrase, “it’s the thought that counts,” actually comes to fruition for Women’s Day. The very act of getting some flowers for the women in your life shows that you both honor and respect the value that they bring to your life.

To learn more, visit Sun Valley's Woman's Day Resource Page.

This article is reprinted in part from the Produce News.

Women's Day Celebration to Share

Women's Day Celebration to Share

#WomensDay International Women's Day kiribati tulips. parrot tulips

 "A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."
                                                                                                      - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Women's Day preparations are in full swing, not only on our farm but across the flower industry.

According to the United Nations, International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.

Here at home in the United States, we just refer to it as Women's Day, since this is where the holiday started in 1909.

My first encounter with Women's Day was about 10 years ago while serving in the United States Peace Corps. I was serving in the island nation of Kiribati which is a series of low lying atolls about half way between Hawaii and Fiji.  On the surface you may think this sounds like a pretty sweet assignment, and I won't lie to you some days were absolutely ideal, however, the reality of living on a desert island has some big challenges to face on a daily level.

Tulips in the sand

Start with no electricity and no plumbing. Then add no fresh running water, such as a stream or pond and no spot on the island higher than 4 feet above sea level. Being literally a desert island, the flora and fauna growing is very limited, since "soil" was very rare. The Kiribati people are of Micronesian decent, and they live a very unique lifestyle and have developed amazing skill sets to be able to live in this beautiful, but very desolate place.

Women's Day is celebrated as a huge event in Kiribati. It is probably the third biggest holiday of the year, behind their Independence celebration in mid-July and Christmas. The entire country slows nearly to a halt for several days of  honoring and recognizing the contributions of  women to Kiribati society.

The role of women in Kiribati culture is not an easy one. It is an extremely patriarchal society and women have a very tough situation. On the days surrounding March 8th, however, women get the spotlight.

Parrot Tulips on a deserted beach.

I was invited to a "botaki" which is basically a formal party. I had been to many botakis before, they followed a usual course, speeches, dancing, food, more dancing, and more speeches. Usually these events are led by men and take about four hours. For the Women's Day botaki everything was different. The women led the event and made the speeches, and where usually only men could ask a woman to dance, now women were able to ask men to dance.  As the special guest at the function, this meant my dance card was full.

One of the most wonderful parts of Kiribati culture is there reverence for their elders, and on this day the old women of the village are the most honored guests. Keep in mind that the average life expectancy for a women in Kiribati is about 62, and for a man is 58. So as a woman walking with a cane in her late 60s asks you to dance, it is an honor to accept. For most dancing at a botaki, everyone is dancing at once, but when this woman rose to her feat and came to ask me to dance, everyone else deferred, and we were given the floor.

Orange Princess Fancy Tulip

In social Kiribati dancing, couples do not touch, in fact eye contact can speak volumes. This was why I was shocked when this elderly woman basically bear hugged me, and to the delight of the entire village, danced me around the maniaba as I blushed head to toe.

This was my introduction to Women's Day. A day where regardless of your age, social standing or gender you take a few moments to show your appreciation, respect and love for the women in your life.

Make sure your bring all the women in your life flowers this Saturday, March 8th.

 

      

Guest Perspective on Women's Day 2014

Guest Perspective on Women's Day 2014

#WomensDay flowers International Women's Day Robin Baker

In preparation for Women's Day, fellow team member Robin Baker wrote a guest blog post for Flower Talk. Enjoy her perspective on this holiday, which is coming up Saturday, March 8th. 

Mount Blackburn, at the heart of the Wrangell Mountains in Alaska, stands at an impressive 16,390 feet. I could see its summit from the toe of the Kennecott Glacier over 20 miles away. I was sitting among the wildflowers in front of the lodge where I’d been working for the summer. The peak, the fifth highest in the United States, was first summited by a woman, Dora Keen, on May 19 in 1912, eight years before the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment which granted women the right to vote.

Sitting in the dusky Alaskan sun of late summer, I couldn’t help but be humbled by women like Dora Keen, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the countless others who paved the way for the women of today. These women and many around me today, remind me not to limit myself to set ideas about what I can or cannot do based on my gender.

Mount Blackburn is the snow covered peak on the left.

We’ve come a long way. If I want to work for a multimillion dollar company, I can. If I want to be a CEO, I can. If I want to be an outdoor guide and summit 16,000 foot peaks, I can. If I want to be an engineer, plumber, doctor, artist, teacher, mechanic…I can. I can choose if, when and whom I want to marry and if and when I have children—a right some in the world are still fighting for.

All that effort, the step-by-step struggle Dora Keen took to reach the summit of Blackburn and the years of fighting and hard work by women like Susan B. Anthony bring us to where we are today. We are not quite at the summit, we are still en route. However, this is something worth celebrating.

Remembering this, I turned my attention from the distant summit of the mountain to the flowers growing beside me on the hillside. I was then sweetly reminded that it took many small details to make up the breathtaking landscape I was enjoying. The height of a mountain cannot dwarf the beauty of a resilient wild Alaskan flower. Instead, they work together to create a world of color that offers a myriad of tactile pleasures to enjoy. 

That’s why, this Women’s Day, I’ll be honoring and celebrating the women in my life by giving them flowers. Flowers remind us to slow down, appreciate the hard work and intricacy of beauty and growth that comes in all shapes and sizes. 

-Robin Baker 

In keeping with Sun Valley's Guiding Principle #3, "Inspire others and always keep learning", Robin also volunteers on the Board of the Emma Center, whose mission is to provide long term, integrated healing services in a safe, empowering environment for any woman who has experienced trauma.

Women's Day Homecoming

Women's Day Homecoming

#WomensDay Honor International Women's Day Love March 8 2014 Respect

"Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my steps, and preside over the White House as the president's spouse. I wish him well!"
                                                                                                           -Barbara Bush

Women's Day 2014, celebrated on March 8th, is fast approaching. What does this mean for you?

Women's Day's is finally coming back home to America, you may not realize this but Women's Day internationally is nearly as big as Valentine's Day. What? No...you must be joking?

It's no joke, worldwide an enormous amount of flowers are given and received for Women's Day. What color? What varieties? The great part about Women's Day is that the flower color or variety isn't as important as the quality and the size of the blooms or bouquet.

Check out our Women's Day themed bouquets.

How does one celebrate Women's Day? First, it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman to join in the party. The theme of the day is to "Love, Honor and Respect" women, so it is perfectly acceptable for a man to give flowers to the women in his life, as well as, women to share flowers with all their friends, family, co-workers and colleagues.

This holiday doesn't have the pretense of Valentine's Day or even Mother's Day. The flowers you give can be much more creative, local and unique as well. No need for long stem blood red roses. How about tulips? Or iris? Or how about a big bunch of gerberas?

One of the most popular tulip varieties for this holiday in Europe is Strong Gold which, true to it's name, is a very big, vibrant yellow tulip.

Women's Day was started in America in 1909, and was called "National Women's Day". The international community helped spread this day across the globe, and it was soon recognized as International Women's Day.

Now over a 100 years later, we seeing a resurgence of this historic day in the United States where it was first celebrated. Ironically, it is coming at a time when the American Grown flower movement has never been stronger. What a great opportunity to celebrate a traditional American event, with flowers grown right on our own soil.

Disclaimer: If you are buried under snow, dig a tunnel to the store and get some California Grown blooms that with dazzle you spouse, your daughters, your teachers, your co-workers...and don't forget your mom!

Our "Honor and Respect Her" Bouquet.

Woman's Day has its roots in inspiring change and building on the advances woman have made toward equal rights and equal opportunities in our society. By giving flowers you recognize that you honor and respect all women, and are conscious of the progress that has been made, and the progress that still needs to happen.

Flowers are amazing in their ability to serve as signposts for the intangible. For centuries civilizations have used them as markers. Births, deaths, victories, defeats, love gained...and love lost. Flowers are the sanctity of hope and the currency of change.

Women's Day includes elements of both hope and change. By expressing ourselves with flowers on Women's Day, men and women alike share in the movement to Love, Honor and Respect all women.