Fbbroart 10, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



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LOCAL PUBLICITY FEATURES 



|N REGARD to the objects 

 and ambitions of the na- 

 tional publicity campaign I 

 am sure all up-to-date flo- 

 rists everywhere are well 

 informed. The real up-to- 

 date, honest-to-g o o d n e a s, 

 amount-to-something florist knows that 

 he is in a wonderful business. As 

 sponsor for that business, he feels that 

 he has a wonderful product to offer to 

 the world. Flowers represent the indis- 

 pensable thing which you and all edu- 

 cated people demand for certain and 

 numerous occasions the world over. 

 This is the story that the national pub- 

 licity campaign is trying to tell. 



Now, you gentlemen have asked me 

 to come down here to give you a plan 

 as to how each and every community 

 can pursue a local campaign to coordi- 

 nate and harmonize with this national 

 campaign now being carried on. 



As a general proposition, 

 I will state that the condi- 

 tions prevailing in the dif- 

 ferent communities are 

 bound to differ to a con- 

 siderable extent. In this 

 discussion, however, I will 

 endeavor to point out some 

 things which in my opinion 

 are essential to the future 

 success and advancement 

 of our business. I will di- 

 vide my suggestions for 

 this local campaign into 

 four captions, not given in 

 the sequence of their im- 

 portance, but in the order 

 in which they occur from 

 this date on: 



Steps to Success. 



First, a better general 

 and technical education 

 among all workers in the 

 florists' trade; second, a 

 spring flower week cam- 

 paign for the different com- 

 munities; third, a general 

 newspaper publicity cam- 

 paign to cover as much of 

 the entire year as practical, and fourth, 

 a "Say It with Flowers" week cam- 

 paign for the fall. In other words, 

 those who desire to follow my sugges- 

 tions can now start on number one and 

 a little later take up in order two, three 

 and four to cover the entire year. 



A publicity campaign is supposed to 

 be synonymous with an educational cam- 

 paign. If we are to have an educa- 

 tional campaign in flowers for the pub- 

 lic, we, as florists, must be the teachers. 

 Are we competent, as store proprietors, 

 salespeople, designers, decorators and 

 general florists, to be teachers of the 

 public in our respective lines? Have 

 we equipped ourselves with all avail- 

 able information on the various sub- 

 jects? Are we in a position to give 

 final and satisfactory information on all 

 subjects which are referred to us? There 

 are a few, no doubt, who are studying 

 the business all the time and are able 

 to give intelligent and satisfactory in- 

 formation on all subjects which are re- 

 ferred to them. This, however, is not 



The address of Z. D. Blackistone, of Washing- 

 ton, D. O.. on "Local Publicity," delivered be- 

 fore the Tennessee State Florists' Association 

 at KnoxTllle, February 6. 



general. I do not believe the ordinary 

 florist is as well posted on his business 

 as he could be and should be. There- 

 fore, the first step which I recommend 

 would be better education, both tech- 

 nical and general. 



For the spring flower week campaign 

 I have an idea which, so far as I know, 

 is original. We all are confronted with 

 the problem of waste flowers during the 

 prolific blooming period of spring. The 

 question of how to prevent this loss has 

 been a thorn in the side of the florists, 

 so to speak, since the business first be- 

 gan. Now, fiowers are not a material 

 substance. We cannot eat them or wear 

 them, but they have a mission in life. 

 That mission is to spread beauty, fra- 

 grance, sunshine, happiness, love and 



BLACKISTONE'S BIG FOUR 



other words, of every hundred dollars' 

 worth of flowers sold probably seventy- 

 five per cent or more are sent as pres- 

 ents, just through kindness of heart, 

 sympathy and love. Now, if our busi- 

 ness is so dependent upon this gracious 

 disposition of the public, does it not be- 

 hoove the florist himself to set the ex- 

 ample in liberality? This is, in my 

 opinion, one of the greatest opportuni- 

 ties we have for publicity. There 

 should be no taint of commercialism, or 

 giving with a string tied to it, but it 

 should be on a broad and liberal basis. 

 With each contribution going out there 

 should be a well worded card or letter. 

 Tell the public that it is one of the joys 

 of the florists' profession, that they 

 have the opportunity at this time of the 

 year to shed through the bounteousness 

 of nature's own gifts the message of 

 sunshine and hope. Not only say this, 

 but train your minds to think it and 

 believe it. If you don't get 

 business returns from it, 

 you will get heaps of satis- 

 faction and pleasure, which 

 after all is the thing which 

 everybody in life is pursu- 

 ing. 



D D D O 



Four features recommended in 

 florists* local publicity campaign: 



Educational Campaign 

 Spring Sunshine Week 

 General Newspaper Publicity 

 "Say It with Flowers** Week 



Newspaper Publicity. 



sympathy. Therefore, if these flowers 

 can be so used as to fulfill their mis- 

 sion they are not wasted. Though the 

 florist may not be paid for them di- 

 rectly, they are fulfilling their reason 

 for existence and the world is better 

 for them. Now, my idea is that if the 

 florists in each community, for one week 

 in the spring, would assemble their sur- 

 plus flowers and, instead of throwing 

 them away, would advertise them 

 through the newspapers by giving them 

 away, they would be doing a big thing. 



Spring Sunshine Week. 



Disseminate these messengers of sun- 

 shine to the sick wherever they may be 

 and call it the "Florists' Spring Sun- 

 shine Week." In this way they would 

 redound to the good of the general 

 trade and compensate the florists in 

 publicity for all expense and trouble of 

 the undertaking. There is one thing 

 that we must always bear in mind and 

 that is, that the flower business is 

 founded upon the idea of G-I-F-T. In 



My idea is that the gen- 

 eral newspaper publicity 

 campaign should be carried 

 out through combined ef- 

 fort. This subject has been 

 treated so well and has 

 been handled so ably by 

 many different communi- 

 ties that any remarks from 

 me would be superfluous. 1 

 would suggest to those in- 

 terested to familiarize 

 themselves with the history 

 of the publicity campaign 

 which has been conducted 

 by the combined florists of 

 Milwaukee. Remember that 

 the best insight into the fu- 

 ture is obtained through 

 the study of the past. 

 Therefore, I say seriously 

 that we should study the history of this 

 publicity campaign which has been con- 

 ducted by the combined florists of Mil- 

 waukee. 



As I am supposed to be the father 

 of "Say It with Flowers" week, no 

 doubt you will expect me to specialize 

 on this subject. I am frank to admit 

 that I consider it one of the greatest 

 opportunities for publicity that we 

 have. In other lines of life the year 

 dies with the fall, but with the florists 

 it begins, so to speak. This is one of 

 the reasons why the ' * Say It with Flow- 

 ers" week is so appropriate for open- 

 ing the fall flower campaign in every 

 community. The time for this cam- 

 paign can best be decided by each and 

 every community according to the con- 

 ditions prevailing there. It would be 

 folly to have this at a time when flow- 

 ers are not abundant. The spirit of gen- 

 erosity and giving should be the key- 

 note of this campaign. 



The florists all over the country will 

 certainly be losing an opportunity if 



