Public promotion initiative

By Denis Flanagan and Lee Ann Knudsen

Last month Horticulture Review gave an overview of the consumer outreach program under the guidance of LO’s Branding Committee. This month, let’s share an update on the progress the team has made through early October. As you may recall, the program is designed to help inspire consumers to use more landscape products and services.

There is approval on the new logo and the ‘look’ of the program. LO will be using a ‘wordmark,’ a trademarked phrase that will be owned by LO and its members — Green for Life. Around this wordmark will be three versions of artwork, each with its own audience. One will be a version used on all LO association outreach, a second in retail and consumer settings and a third can be used by any member as needed.

All logos will have the same look and feel. Members can use them on business cards or letterheads, as well as POP signs at retail, as truck signs or truck vinyl wraps, or online with your website. We enjoyed fitting one version on the quarter panel of a typical pick-up truck, and then we went nuts and ‘wrapped’ a smart car!  Imagine 2,000 LO members driving around in these truck and car billboards!

To help all members get familiar with the new program, we will hold a series of marketing webinars where you can listen and contribute on a conference call, while watching a presentation on your computer. We will have the whole marketing team on the webinar call to explain details of the program, and how you can take advantage of it in your business.  If you have not tried a webinar before, they are very straightforward: we will e-mail you an invitation for a specific date and topic. If you want to sign up, simply click the ‘register’ button. We will keep you informed as the dates near, and you will be able to follow the program from your own computer screen. In addition to webinars on the specifics of the LO program, we will have a few on general marketing skills so you can tap into the LO marketing team’s brain trust.

We have also done initial design on the new LO consumer website, which is scheduled to launch in time for Canada Blooms. The site will help connect potential clients to your business, be a place to inspire consumers to do more landscaping and be a forum for LO to get out messages from plant care to topics about the environment. The team is busy with site content, adding great images that we know will help inspire consumers. We will have a section with general gardening care, as well as the ‘connect to a pro’ section. Next month we will show you our progress on the website.

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Questions or comments? Please fell free to contact Lee Ann Knudsen, 416-848-7557 (direct) or 1-888-211-5606, ext. 314.

Caption: LO’s new visual identity strategy allows members to choose options appropriate for different audiences.