Marketing Plan Developed for FTD

Karl Cassel
Madeline Lanois
Luke Sahly
Emily Sneddon

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Floral Trans world Delivery, FTD, is a premier floral and gift giving company
both domestically in the United States and Internationally. Through the vast amount
of brands that FTD owns, they are able to provide a slue of unique and special gifts
for the thoughtful gift giver. FTD strives to inspire, support and delight our
customers when expressing life's most important sentiments. Since its start in
1910, FTD has become a well-established and trusted brand.
As an international company with a large family of brands, FTD is the top
source of gift giving internationally, but the company faces stiff competition in the
Untied States for the thoughtful gift giver. This new marketing plan will help FTD to
gain market share for gift givers in the United States and improve their customer
experience by improving their promotional activities.

II. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The Marketing Environment

Competitive Forces 1-800 Flowers

Teleflora
Edible Arrangements
Technological Forces Delivery/Tracking
Supply Chain Visibility
Transparency
Political Forces No foreseeable influences or events
Legal/Regulatory Forces Labor Laws
Environmental Restrictions
Sociocultural Forces Millennial Buying Behavior
Social Obligations (Weddings, Holidays)
Flower Styles
Economic Forces Value for Money
Cost of Gas and Transportation
Plant breeding for increased shelf life
Global growth in low cost areas yield greater
profit margin

1. Competitive Forces:
Between local florists and other floral industries, there is a lot of competition in the
flower market. Teleflora and 1-800 Flowers are two of FTDs strongest competitors.
They provide a lot of the same services as FTD, such as international delivery and
rewards programs. Some of their other strengths are a strong presence on social

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media and easily navigable websites. Teleflora in particular has a lot of strengths
that set them apart. They provide information on the assembly progress of their
floral arrangements and a convenient drop down menu that allows customers to
choose their flowers by class, color, and popular options. In addition to these flower
industries, DIY gifts are becoming a popular option that could become another
serious competitor.

2. Technological Forces
One major emerging technological advancement is a GPS operated delivery truck. It is
not fully available yet, but it will significantly improve the delivery and tracking
processes. Trucks are also being equipped with temperature sensors to provide better
storage conditions during transport. Other technological advances are improving product
traceability, allowing for better supply chain visibility, and are providing
transparency by creating more opportunities for companies to connect with their
customers and effectively communicate and share data with them (Whitaker).

Legal/Regulatory Forces
When dealing with the importation of flowers from overseas, it is important
to follow trade regulations and stay within regulatory limits. This includes
environmental restrictions to specific regions and areas of growth. Similarly,
tax policies on importation and costs concerning outsourced growth need to be
taken into consideration alongside labor laws to insure fair treatment and regulated
wages. Understanding these forces will increase familiarity with the specific
business environment, allowing for a more in depth analysis (Cole-Ingait, What
Political and Legal Forces).

Sociocultural Forces
Millennial buying behaviors have begun to shift away from traditional
forms of gifts, such as flowers, and is moving towards on-the-go gifts like fancy
beverages or easily consumable gifts. Similarly, obligatory giving pertains to
cultural norms, particularly holidays and surrounding large life events. This
can affect the flower type and arrangement style as well as the overall message and
tone of the gift itself (White, 11 Global Trends).

Economic Forces
Within the economic sphere, the quality of the product being produced is crucial
as it is a main factor pertaining to retaining customers. Also, logistics of
transportation such as cost of gas a movement of the product as well as growing
flowers in low cost areas of the world. Similarly, this applies to plant breeding as it
factors in an increased shelf life for the staple product, being flowers (Barnat,
Economic Forces).

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Target Markets

FTD helps their consumers confidently express their important sentiments and
feel like an exceptional gift giver. It has a specific target market; thoughtful people
looking to give a gift that reflects their personality and expresses their
sentiment. FTDs target market demographics:

The target market is majority female at an average of 51 years old.

Gender of Gift Givers

Female Male
61% 39%

The types of products that FTDs target market purchases are: Wired In,
Expressives, Personal Touch, Nice N Easy, and Pragmatists.

Types of Gifts Purchased

17% 17% Wired In

Expressives

Personal Touch
25% 25%
Nice N' Easy

Pragmatists
16%

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 Mothers Day is the most popular holiday for purchasing flowers, closely
followed by Valentines Day.

Flower Occasions

9% Mothers Day

12% Valentine's
35%
Day
Sympathy

29% Thank You

The target market most frequently purchases flowers from local florists.

Brand Purchasing

FTD
26%
Local
Florists
43%
ProFlowers
1-800 6%
Flowers
25%

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 The average household income of the target market is $84,000 per year.

Household Income
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
<$50,000 $50,000 - $100,000 - $150,000 - $200,000 or
$99,999 $149,999 $199,999 more


Current Marketing Objectives and Performance
The current marketing objective is to target the thoughtful gift giver through
online advertisements and word of mouth. The credibility of the FTD brand goes a
long way in the gift giving market. Through partnering with Better Homes and
Gardens, Hallmark, Vera Wang, and DaySpring, FTD is currently attempting to retain
and gain more United States gift givers.
FTD accumulated $1.2 billion in annual revenue and $60.3 million of
adjusted net income in 2015.
FTD utilized a repurchase program in 2015 that was put into effect after
being approved by their Board of Directors in 2014. They were able to
repurchase 1.8 million shares of common stock equaling $50 million in
2015.
The Board has also approved of a new two-year share repurchase program
for $60 million. This will be put into effect in 2016.

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 III. SWOT ANALYSIS

IV. MARKETING OBJECTIVES

The marketing objective is to create five new promotional activities in order

to increase thoughtful gift sales and retain customers. By altering the promotion of
FTDs wide range of products it should boost sales, consumer awareness, and retain
more of the target market in the United States.
1. Improving Social Media promotion
2. Improving website design to facilitate usage and purchasing appeal
3. Incorporate floral education to increase appreciation and purchasing
4. Increase promotion of floral alternatives as a thoughtful gift
5. Create a local connection to consumers to better fit cultural trends

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V. MARKETING STRATEGIES

Target Market

We are aiming for the thoughtful gift giver who desires a carefully designed
gift giving experience to fully express their sentiments and are proud of their gift
giving experience.

Marketing Mix

Product Mix: The main product of FTD is the thoughtful gift. This gift can fall into a
variety of categories.
a) Floral -FTD has high end floral arrangements come from a variety of sources.
They partner with local florists and wholesalers, as well as own other floral
companies such as ProFlowers, Flying Flowers, Pro Plants, Flowers Direct,
and Interflora.
b) Gourmet Foods - Items ranging from chocolate covered fruit to wine and
cheese, FTD has an extensive line of food gifts. They own Sheris Berries
which is a company that specializes in chocolate covered fruit.
c) Gift baskets and Gifts - Gift baskets and personalized gifts are another
component of the thoughtful gift, going beyond the traditional flowers and
sending a truly personal item makes FTD stand apart. They have acquired
companies such as Personal Creations, Red Envelope, gifts.com, and
Sincerely. The wide range of gift baskets and gifts includes an option for
everyone.
d) Luxury Gifts - FTD is unique in their luxury line. This line is high end and is
carefully crafted for the gift giver who wants to spend the extra money to go
above and beyond the average floral arrangement.

Distribution Channels: FTD mainly uses their florist network, which is made up of
traditional retail florists and other retail locations offering floral and related products that
are located all over the U.S. and Canada. Using this large network of local florists allows
FTD to offer same-day delivery to their customers in the U.S. and Canada (subject to
some limitations). The orders that cannot be fulfilled by florists within the network are
shipped directly to customers from wholesalers. FTD ensures that products from
wholesalers are delivered via next-day and future-day delivery services. FTD also ensures
next-day deliveries internationally if orders are placed before 2pm EST.
a. Producer Wholesalers Consumers
b. Producer Local Florists Consumers

Price: A particular strength of FTD is their variety and options of prices. FTD provides
competitive discount pricing for a large section of gifts and floral arraignments, but FTD
is the only company that offers a Luxury line that allows the thoughtful gift giver to go
above and beyond the typical gift giving experience.

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 Promotional Activities:

1. Improve social media presence
FTD currently engages with their customers through social media by using
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to present new flowers, different offers, and some
customer service. The issue is that each of these social media platforms essentially
has the same role right now. Ideas for improving FTDs social media presence:

Twitter
Media Purpose: Done Well: How to Improve: Frequency of Posts:
-Quick messages -Retweets -Encourage customers to -Tweet three times a day on a
that are mainly for -Get content out Direct Message and tweet at regimented schedule (Hughes)
updates on a frequent FTD for customer service
-Customer Service basis -Tweet articles about flowers,
promotional ads, quick flower
facts and new seasonal
introductions
-Reduce images tweeted
Instagram
Media Purpose: Done Well: How to Improve: Frequency of Posts:
-Use pictures to tell -Pictures -More diversity -One per day
stories illustrate products -Different uses of the flowers -Peak CTR is at the end of the
-Brief captions with well offered (congratulatory, thank workday up until rush hour
many hashtags to - Some pictures you, birthday, etc.) traffic hit this time
connect to more tell stories -Share customer pictures and frequently (Hughes)
users -Great photos stories
-Must use hashtags (#flowers
#ftd)

Facebook
Media Purpose: Done Well: How to Improve: Frequency of Posts:
-Use pictures and -Linked with -Original content outside of -Twice a day
videos to tell stories Instagram Instagram -Early morning posts as
-More interactive -Share what the company is people wake up and scroll
than instagram through behind the scenes through their Facebooks
pictures, introduction (Hughes)
employees, show how flowers
are kept and shipped
-Share links to promotions,
discounts and articles about
flowers

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 Social Media is a huge platform in todays day and age, and FTD must take
advantage of it as a marketing tool to interact with its customers on a more personal level
(even if it is through technology)

2. Improve website design

FTDs website is slightly dated. It currently has wide, white margins that
are wasting space and distracting from the important information on the page.
It also has an abundance of tabs and fine print that make it feel cluttered and
overwhelming. Right now the page feels corporate and impersonal, which causes
people to feel like their flowers are more generic and artificial. Updating the website
will make it more visually appealing and easier to navigate.

First impressions matter, therefore the website needs to be updated to a

more current design (Lindgaard, 2006). Results from a British research study
found that 94% of the feedback participants gave after looking at a webpage
was about its design. Only 6% percent of the feedback was about the pages actual
content (Laja). This study clearly indicates that website design and navigation had
the most influence on peoples first impressions.

Customer Feedback
6%

Page Content
Page Design
94%

Some improvements to implement in order to improve the design and visual appeal
of the website are:
1. Using the entire page to display information
2. Stretching banners, pictures, and words across the entire screen
3. Condensing the small print at the bottom of the homepage

Customers love to know where their products are coming from, so the website
should also give a brief description about how FTD gets their flowers and what
goes into the process of delivering them to customers. A simple banner like the
one below, from one of our key competitors Teleflora, could provide a short
description and would be a great solution.

10


Finally, one of the websites the biggest obstacles is its complicated

navigation. It has too many tabs and drop down menus to choose from. This makes
it overwhelming for customers to find products and makes them less likely to
continue to other areas of the website. Customers do not like to make decisions, so
we need simplify the pathway to purchasing by making it easier to find the
products they want. In order to do this we should:
1. Eliminate the vertical side menu because it has the same options as the
horizontal menu at the top (see below).
2. Decrease the number of drop down menus.
3. Streamline pathways to products by making one main pathway to each type
of product.

3. Incorporate floral education to increase appreciation and purchasing

The floral industry is filled with underlying meanings and thoughtfulness based on
the meaning behind each flower. By increasing the consumers knowledge about

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flowers and their meanings increases flower purchases and repeat purchases
(Berkshire, 2015) By directly informing the consumer about the meaning and
possibilities of floral gifts, sales increased and repeat sales also increased (Behe,
1991).
While FTD does have some floral information to educate their consumers, it is
difficultt to find on the website and is not artistically done to facilitate easy
understanding. In order to improve this, FTD should:

1. Create an easily accessible and interactive guide to floral

understanding on the website.
2. Add an informational card for each of the floral deliveries educating
the recipient of the gift. This would increase the appreciation of the
recipient and increase their likelihood of purchasing flowers as well.

This would increase the thoughtfulness of the gift-giver and increase the appreciation
of the receiver by fully understanding the sentiment behind the floral decision (Behe,
1991). The thoughtful gift giver would have a more positive experience due to the fact
that their thoughtfulness and expressions are better conveyed through the floral
arrangement and the recipient would be more appreciative of the gift with the additional
floral knowledge that makes it a more meaningful gift.

4. Increase alternative gift promotion

Baby Boomers Generation X

Evolved fast pace life style On-the-go lifestyle less time at home
Spent more time at home Value experience related products
Decreasing flower buying tendencies Dual working parent trend
Lower flower buying tendencies

The cultural trends that we see between baby boomers and generation X are the rise
of a fast paced lifestyle and less time spent in the home (WJSchroer). Due to the fact
that they spend less time at home, they are becoming less appreciative of floral gifts.
This signals that FTD should increase their promotions of other non-floral gifts. This
trend has also begun to transfer into the current millennial generation (appendix A).

Introducing the Plan:

1. Increase promotion of non-flower related products offered by

FTD online via access to partner sites from website homepage.
2. Introduce a more calculated, personalized process of finding
non-flower related gift products to pair with flower purchases.

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One of FTDs major competitors, 1-800 Flowers, lists their partner companies at the
top of their home page for easy access and recognition.

Increasing Promotion of Non-Flower Gift Partner Companies:

Sharis Berries, Mrs. Fields, Godiva, Starbucks, and other FTD partner companies are
ideal non-flower related gift companies that can be used to attract more customers.
These companies provide the perfect pairings that customers enjoy, such as
coffee, chocolate, and other aesthetic consumable goods.

Adding promotional algorithm to pairings of flowers and non-flower gifts:

Charts what a user has bought in the past, which items they have in their
virtual shopping cart, items theyve rated and liked, and what other
customers have viewed and purchased.
This strategy has been mastered by the online empire, Amazon, who offers a
successful pairing feature that allows customers to add related items onto an
existing order.
This add on feature success is further supported by CAF America, a
foundation that allows customers to easily add gifts to their prior purchases.
Customers will have access to personalized gift suggestions throughout their
online shopping experience.

5. Create a local connection to consumers to better-fit cultural trends

As we examine the changing sociocultural environment it becomes clear that

there is a large push to buy local items. According to research done by the Hartman
group, in 2014, 29% of consumers said that they buy more local items than the
previous year (Mowry, 2014). This increasing awareness and willingness to buy local is
split fairly evenly across all generations.
This trend can be seen most clearly in the food and craft beer industries (Tapped
In, 2016) (appendix B). While these industries are different from the floral industry, the
product experience and ability to go local are fairly similar.

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In order to capitalize on one of FTDs strengths - their connections with local florists
FTD should make strides to make their company more local:
1. FTD should both link their website to the local florist websites and use
locational services to connect the user to local florists while they are on
the FTD website.
2. This reciprocal relationship will make FTD more relatable to the client
and also increase the online searching presence (Sogueco, 2016).

Teleflora, a key competitor, is already doing this.

On the website of local florists that partner with Teleflora, the consumer is linked to their
website and purchase from Teleflora directly.

Companies Currently Using These Strategies

Whole Foods Designs stores based on location
Uses Google Plus to appear in
local searches
Local community sponsorship and
involvement
The Absolut Company Our/Vodka Creating local distilleries to have
local blends
Goal: to create both global and
local Vodka
Local entrepreneurs run the
distillery

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VI. MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION

Market Organization

Activities, Responsibilities, Timetable for Completion, and Cost
1. Improving social media promotion
a. Activities:
i. Hire/train social media specialist
ii. Create new content
b. Responsibility:
i. Head of social media department
c. Timetable for completion:
i. 2 months for social media consultant
d. Cost:
i. $3,000 for social media consultant
2. Improving website design
a. Activities:
i. Work with website design team
ii. Adjust website features as described
b. Responsibility:
i. Website Designer IT department
c. Timetable for completion:
i. 6 - 8 weeks for design and implementation
d. Cost:
i. Redesign - $5,000-$8,000
ii. Website designer additional time
3. Incorporating floral education
a. Activities:
i. Create educational pamphlet content
ii. Upload pamphlet to website
iii. Create and print educational cards for each arrangement
b. Responsibility:
i. FTD florists and marketing team
c. Timetable for completion:
i. Educational pamphlet 4 weeks
ii. Creation of cards 4 weeks
d. Cost:
i. Time of florists and marketers
4. Alternative gift promotion
a. Activities:
i. Add other product brands to home page
ii. Develop formula
iii. Implement formula
b. Responsibility:
i. Marketing promotion team

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 ii. IT Department
c. Timetable for completion:
i. Adding product brands to home page 1 week
ii. Developing and implementing formula 6 months
d. Cost:
i. Adding product brands to home page cost of IT time
ii. Developing and implementing formula dependent on the cost
of consultant and duration of project
5. Creating a local connection to customers
a. Activities:
i. Connect with local florists
ii. Link websites
iii. Add locational searches to website
b. Responsibility:
i. IT department to create website links
ii. Marketing team to contact the local florists
c. Timetable for completion:
i. 6 months for all florists
d. Cost:
i. IT staff additional time

VII. EVALUATION

Performance Standards
1. Improving Social Media promotion
a. Before social media techniques have been implemented, gather a
baseline of clicks and views on the social media posts and how many
of these lead the consumer to the website.
b. Once the social media techniques have been implemented, continue to
monitor these trends and compare to the baseline to see if the social
media techniques have improved click and view rates.
c. The goal is to see a 10% increase in consumer viewing of the social
media and how much they interact with it.
2. Improving website design
a. Before the new website design changes have been implemented,
gather a baseline of time spent on the website, click through rate, and
number of clicks until purchase.
b. After the new website has been updated, once again monitor these
activities and compare back to baseline for improvement status.
c. In order for this activity to be successful there should be an increase
in website activity and less clicks to get to a product.
3. Incorporating floral education
a. Since there is no benchmark available for this type of information, a way to
evaluate this activity would be to monitor the amount of visits to the
content.

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 b. There should be an increase in sales of flower arrangements by both the
customer and the recipient as a direct result of the floral guide and
educational card in the gift.
4. Alternative Gift Promotion
a. Before increasing the alternative gift promotions, first gather a baseline of
how many customers purchase the gifts as compared to flowers.
b. Once the gift promotion has begun compare the sales trends to the baseline
created earlier. The goal would be a 5% increase in sales.
5. Creating a local connection to consumers
a. To evaluate the success of connecting the FTD website to the local florists
they work with, measure the amount of users who access the page and
purchase from FTD through the local florist. This should increase floral sales.
b. In order to evaluate adding a geography tag for each florist on the home
page: first create a benchmark of how many users come to the FTD website
through Internet searches. Once the local tagging has been added, there
should be an increase in consumers coming to the FTD website through
internet searches for florists.

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VIII. References

Barnat, Ryszard. "Economic Forces." Strategic Management :: Economic Forces. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Behe, B.K. and Wolnick, D.J. 1991. Type of floral product purchased and
demographic characteristics and floral knowledge of consumers.
Hortscience, Vol. 26(4): 414-416
Berkshire, Danielle L., "Marketing Effects on Consumer Retention and Expenditures
in Central Kentucky and North Central Tennessee Floral Industry"
(2015).Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 1516.
Cole-Ingait, Paul. "What Political and Legal Forces Impact Industries?" What Political
and Legal Forces Impact Industries? | Chron.com. Chron, n.d. Web. 29 Nov.
2016.
Hughes, Brian. "How to Optimize Your Social Media Posting Frequency Social
Media Week." Social Media Week. Crowdcentric Media, LLC, 22 Mar. 2016.
Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Laja, Peep. First Impressions Matter: The Importance of Great Visual Design.
ConversionXL. 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Lindgaard, Gitte et al. Attention Web Designers: You Have 50 Milliseconds to Make
a Good First Impression! Behaviour & Information Technology 25.2 (2006):
115126. EBSCOhost. Web.
Mowry, Curtis, Adam Pimentel, Elizabeth Sparks, and Brittany Hanlon. "Organic and
Natural." (2014): 1-95. Local-trend-2014. Hart Man Group, 28 Aug. 2014.
Web.
"Our Vodka - The Absolut Company." Our Vodka - The Absolut Company. N.p., n.d.
Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Sogueco, R. 2015. Search and rescue. Floral management. Vol. 32(4): 20-25.
"Tapped In: Craft and Local Are Powerful Trends in the Beer Aisle." Tapped In: Craft
and Local Are Powerful Trends in the Beer Aisle. Nielsen, 14 July 2015. Web.
13 Nov. 2016.
"WebpageFX." In 2016: What's a Fair Cost? WebpageFX, 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Whitaker, Robert. Tech Trends 2016. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

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IX. Appendix

B) As of a February 2015 study conducted by Nielson, 53% of beer drinkers said
that local was somewhat or very important.
In one year the volume of beer growth was 0.6% and craft beer, in the same
time period, had a volume growth of 10.2%. Craft beer is the local, small company

19
beer buying option, thus illustrating that the buying local trend is having a large
impact on consumer behavior.

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