National Florist Day put on pause
The founders and host of the National Florist Day project have decided to pause the campaign in the face of increasing turbulence in the industry.
As explained more fully in her blog, Caroline Marshall-Foster, the driving force of the first, highly successful event, says the campaign proved conclusively that a generic, cross industry campaign can work. The results from the first one were phenomenal and didn’t just exceed all expectations in the number of local independent florists taking part, but proved beyond reasonable doubt that working together, under one collective brand, whilst focussing on LOCAL MARKETING rather than a scatter gun approach, had the most phenomenal power.
However, whilst there have been some very generous pledges, not only is there an increasing air of negativity and divide within the sector but many companies are saying they simply aren’t able to help due to the financial pressures of a falling market and increased costs. As a result, there isn’t enough ‘in the pot’ to confidently go live for June.
Commenting on the decision Caroline said “I have beaten my calculator within an inch of its life but I just can't make the numbers work. However whilst I am terribly sad it can’t currently go ahead as I had dreamed, NFD isn’t about me but the whole industry. Yes, we have some very generous pledges in place and I am eternally grateful to the companies who have supported me this far, but just now there isn’t seemingly the appetite to really make it what it should and could be. As such and until I feel confident everyone is truly behind it, I would rather press pause than do something that isn’t up to standard or doesn’t truly reflect the professionalism of the industry.”
You can read Caroline's full blog here
Want to make it happen?
The NFD concept is ready to roll out as soon as sufficient funding levels are reached, and the pause button is released. The next window of opportunity is October '25 as it is a relatively quiet trading month and the perfect time to get local businesses in the mind of the consumer before the peaks kick in. It will also give the industry a chance to catch breath and assess the financial position without interruption. If you want to be involved and help make it happen please click this
