What our industry needs: monkeys on unicycles

My father recently retired after more than 50 years in the legal field. For more than 20 of those years he honorably served the State of Texas as a district judge.

Todd Davis

Published November 18, 2010
Todd Davis

My father recently retired after more than 50 years in the legal field. For more than 20 of those years he honorably served the State of Texas as a district judge.

But don’t worry, he’s keeping himself busy. He has a new hobby.

It’s forwarding me more than 3,000 e-mails every day. We’re talking everything from conservative commentary to YouTube videos of monkeys riding unicycles.

I guess it beats hanging out at pool halls.

But this brings me to a point. For more than a century there have been nursery folks clamoring, “We need a national marketing campaign!”

They want Super Bowl ads. They want dancing California Raisins. They want Got Milk.


Big moolah

The problem is that these campaigns cost money. And our industry has never been united enough, or felt the need enough, to pony up.

And for those of you resistant to pay for a big, expensive marketing campaign, I can see your point. While big, flashy billboards and Super Bowl ads would be nice, finding a fair way to collect funds from an industry as diverse as ours would be a nightmare.

But this is the 21st century. Can we promote our industry without paying through the nose? You bet your unicycle-riding monkeys we can.

Stop what you’re doing and go to www.openhort.com. This is a site built by Art Parkerson, vice president of Lancaster Farms in Suffolk, Va. He created it as a place our industry could post and share marketing materials – primarily videos – that can be shared with the entire country.

Savvy marketing folks have discovered just how valuable people like my father can be. You want to get a message out? Create a catchy video and cut it loose in cyber world. My dad and thousands of others will forward it to everyone they know.

The videos, as they say, “go viral.”


Knowledge is power
Let’s face it, most people out there already know that trees and other landscape plants are good for the environment, reduce electricity bills and fight global warming. They just need gentle reminders every now and then.

So let’s get to work. We have the knowledge and creativity to get this done. Let’s crank out clever videos that also tout our products. If you need examples, check out some of the excellent work Art has posted at www.openhort.com.

Then start forwarding those videos to friends and family. All it takes is for one or two of these videos to go viral, and we’ll receive as much exposure as those expensive Super Bowl ads.

Let’s put those monkeys, and my father, to work.


 

Todd Davis
tdavis@gie.net

 

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