Buds On A Budget

A press release came across my desk today that caught my eye - "Website Offers Bailout To Economically Strapped Suitors This Valentine's Day."

The company is Saved By The Bud, and they're trying not to let the economic downturn put a damper on Valentine's Day this year. "Valentine's Day approaches, the day when cupid meets commerce, and even the poorest of paramours is expected to pony up with a present," the release eloquently states.

To help bail out cash-strapped suitors, www.savedbythebud.com has created a new section, Buds On A Budget, which includes affordable floral gift ideas for Valentine's Day.

Saved By The Bud comes from the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center (NFBIC) in Danby, Vt., and offers "a lifeline for clueless guys offering the hows, whys and ways of using the power of flowers to communicate with girls."

Suggestions in the Buds On A Budget section include choosing one, fabulous flower over a bulked up bouquet. "Properly presented, one or two wisely-chosen stems can be just as cool a gift as two dozen - if your presentation is charming."

The site also offers information on buying and caring for cut and potted flowers, including how-to videos so "even the most horticulturally challenged can learn the ins and outs of floral gifts."

Fascinating Story On An Independent Book Store

This story is almost heartbreaking. It's from Business Week on a large independent bookstore in California and its rise to success and subsequent demise.

There are some great cautionary items in here for any independent retailer, though, about not changing to meet the current demand. Click here for the story.

Blogs Do Matter

I don't really think this is actually debated anymore, but for those who still wonder, blogs are pretty influential when it comes to buying decisions.

If you need statistics, a new study by Retailer Daily looked at how blogs factor into consumer purchases and how they influence buying behavior.

Here's a breakdown of the findings:

• Those who read a blog more than once a month said they trust blog content more for purchase decisions than content from social networking sites.
  
• Half of blog readers surveyed said they found blogs useful for purchase information.
  
• Outside of technology-related purchases, other key categories were media and entertainment; games, toys and sporting goods, travel; automotive and health.
  
• The niche focus of a blog increased the perception of usefulness. For example, more than half of those surveyed said blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key sources for them when buying a product.

Those are just some of the statistics from the study. Find out more at: http://www.kenradio.com/content/view/1609/1

Have A Beef With You Friends? Burger King Has A Solution

By far one of the most interesting social media marketing techniques I've come across to date, Burger King is promoting its new Angry Whopper through a Facebook application that gives a free burger to any member who sacrifices at least 10 of his or her Facebook friends.

Users must download the Whopper Sacrifice Facebook application, shed 10 friends and then enter the eMail address where they'd like the free Angry Whopper coupon to be delivered.

According to WhopperSacrifice.com, more than 215,000 friends have been dumped for burgers. Holy cow.

Check Out The World's Largest Sock Monkey In Atlanta

Gift and decor supplier Midwest is taking its popular sock monkeys to new heights (literally), introducing the world's biggest Genuine Monkeez sock monkey at the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishing Market, which runs Jan. 6-14.

At 8 feet tall, Super Sammy is really more of a sock gorilla. Larger than life, he'll be on display in Midwest's AmericasMart showroom in Building One/Merchandise Mart, Suite 16A7, and he'll also be the star of Midwest's Go Bananas event on Friday, Jan. 9 from 4 to 7 p.m. Independent retailers are invited to attend the event, get their photos taken with Super Sammy and receive complimentary Genuine Monkeez gifts, as well as free freight on all Genuine Monkeez orders of $500 or more with immediate shipping.

If you don't have a chance to meet Super Sammy in Atlanta, he'll be making appearances in Midwest's showrooms in Dallas, New York and Las Vegas, too.

Programs For Kids

I’m going through the Revolutionary 100 surveys now to write up details for our web coverage, and noticed a couple of garden centers focusing activities toward kids this year. I wanted to post a link to a program that I think is really beneficial and might help some retailers in their efforts to reach kids. It’s a program called Veggie U, and the link is www.veggieu.com.

This program is a non-profit created by The Chef’s Garden in Milan, Ohio. It’s a farm dedicated to growing specialty herbs, veggies and microgreens sustainably, and supplies chefs all over the country. The idea came about when the owners were sitting with some chefs talking about the lack of nutrition education for kids. They came up with the program, which involves sending vegetable seeds and soil packets to classrooms across the country, along with a curriculum designed to teach kids in a fun and enjoyable way about vegetables and nutrition.

I don’t know if there are partnership opportunities with this program for garden centers, but it seems like it would be a great way to tie together nutrition and gardening.

ANLA Blog Fest Today!

Want to find some good ideas fast? Check out the 2009 ANLA Management Clinic blog, which is being updated Thursday, Dec. 18 every hour from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with all sorts of ideas you can take to the bank.
The blog’s focus is Managing Through Tough Times, and our own Group Editor Richard Jones will be one of the featured bloggers, along with Dale Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery, Ken Long, president of Garden Centers of America and co-owner of L.A. Reynolds Home & Garden Showplace, and many others.
Find it all at www.managementclinic.org/blog/index.cfm.