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 To understand the importance of having a branded pot to accompany specialized tags and point-of-purchase material, simply open your kitchen cupboards, said Fran Hopkins, president of Under A Foot Plant Co.
Hopkins launched the Stepables brand of perennials in 1999. Since then, she’s been perfecting the brand and its packaging. The Stepables line is packaged in a purple pot with specialized tags and POP material.
“Ever seen Campbell’s Soup in a blue can? Cheerios in a green box? French’s Yellow Mustard in a red squeeze bottle? Packaging is everything in the branding business. It is how the consumer recognizes the brand. It is the very first thing (and sometimes the only thing) they remember,” she said.
By 2004, everything in the Stepables line was planted and sold in the purple pots.
“To fulfill our brand promise nationwide, we needed to get everyone on the same page so a consumer in Tennessee would have the same Stepables experience as one in Michigan,” she said. “It is vital to the overall brand experience that consumers see uniformity and have trust in what they are buying. Our pots and tags together create one of the most distinct looks in horticulture. The pot and tag combined is our ‘Cheerios box’ and believe me, consumers know and ask for Stepables by name.”
For the last 11 years, Hopkins and her team have been working on providing an enjoyable and rewarding consumer experience. But many in the green industry are behind the times in terms of embracing brands, she said.
“Horticulture is now fighting a fight in which some feel put out because of the existence of brands, rather than realizing that the 21st century consumer is not the same as we grew up with. Branding is everything in their eyes. Choice is everything to them,” she said. “I think the industry has a long way to go to understand why branding in general is important to its future. Pots, containers, packaging and overall POP make products stand out. The vegetable section of your supermarket is at this very same crossroad. Forever lettuce was generic, a low margin necessity to carry. Now, because consumers have opened their eyes to the enormous array of purchasing possibilities, there is now an entire section dedicated to lettuce—lettuce for crying out loud. Are supermarkets boycotting? No, they have made more room and dropped other products to open up new space to expand their lettuce section.”
For more: www.stepables.com.
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