Plant Something. Plant Maine. Plant Something. Plant Maine Plant Something! Plant Maine! Plant Something! Plant Maine! Marketing Roundtable January 22, 2019

Leadership & Collaboration

Marketing Program Plant Something! Plant Maine! Grassroots, nationally established campaign led locally by Maine Landscape & Nursery Association. Increase public support for local growers, nurseries, garden centers, and landscapers.

Marketing Program Raise awareness of benefits of planting. Better Health – Be more active. Community – Give back to your community. Economy – Add more value to your home. Environment – Be greener.

PlantSomethingMaine.Org 13,813 plantsomethingmaine.org users in 2018. 5,145 Newsletter subscribers. More “how to video content.” New page for kids – Garden-based Learning and Maine School Garden Collaborative.

Social Media 3,322 Plant Something Facebook followers, a 60% increase over 2017. 2nd ranked Plant Something Facebook Page, only behind the national page. 1,104 followers of Facebook Plant Something Gardening Group. 933 Instagram followers. 11,000 interested in 2018 Maine. Flower Show Facebook Event Page, 307% increase over 2017.

TV Advertising Increased visibility of statewide PSPME! 2018 $29,055.00 TV campaign $43,030 of additional media exposure from the Independent Garden Centers of Maine (OGCME)who branded all their seasonal television ads with PSPME! 2019 - Projected $27,500 TV media exposure from (IGCME).

Public Relations Maine Landscape & Nursery PR Over 150 pieces of earned media for the Maine Flower Show, Grow Maine Green Expo event and industry awards, and Plant Something Weekend. 2.9 million total combined audience reached through print and broadcast media. 91 million unique viewers per month, total combined audience reached through online media. 100 + feature stories - print, broadcast, and online media - about the Maine Flower Show and Plant Something Weekend.

Maine Flower Show 20,000+ attended in 2018 Over 75% are female* Majority are between the ages of 35-65 years old* Over 75% are homeowners* Over 30% have HH income of over $100,000* Primary media buy demo: Women 25-64 2018 Show at-a-glance (March 22 – 25, 2018) 4-day event, plus Premiere Night to benefit Good Shepherd Food Bank on March 21 Total attendance exposure = 20,000+ people 19,285 paid attendees from nearly 20 states, a 20% increase over 2017 500 volunteers, booth workers and others to support the event 135+ home and garden vendors, daily seminars and workshops, and a Veterans’ Appreciation Day featuring Travis Mills 12 competitive walk-through indoor display gardens, 13 total 14 judged awards for best display gardens, including People’s Choice award “Way better than the recent Boston show…” Media Exposure: Sponsors - WGME, Portland Radio Group, MaineToday Media/Portland Press Herald, Maine Home + Design Earned media coverage reached potential audience of more than 23.2 million, generated AVE of $269,000+ *Estimated based on traffic and data from other New England shows

Pollinator Garden Promotion $26,723 of Maine Flower Show TV, Radio and Print advertising featured Plant Something! Plant Maine! as a lead sponsor. Mystery Seeds promote Plant a Pollinator Garden. 15,000 distributed in 2018. PSPME! Maine Chair Tom Estabrook was interviewed on Portland radio station Frank FM.

Maine School Gardens Maine is cultivating the next generation of gardeners. Garden-based learning. Maine School Garden Collaborative. Focus of the MSGC will be on more immediate needs, specifically, tools for the classroom and improving resources for the 130+ existing school gardens. MSGC succeeded in attracting funding for a whole new program to develop lessons and lesson plans aligned with state and national education standards to be available online with the goal of reaching 15-20,000 students. Program includes developing and publishing Plant Something for ME a book in the MAITC “Agriculture for ME” book series. What Is Garden-based Learning? Garden-based learning uses school or community gardens and garden programs that involve hands-on activities as a platform for instruction in many different areas of education. Garden-based learning strengthens academic skills, social and life skills in areas of nutrition, leadership, and decision making. In Maine, many organizations are doing important work in Ag education.  Maine Agriculture in the Classroom helps Maine kids improve their agricultural literacy,  Maine School Garden Network promotes and supports educational gardens for youth, and  ReTreeUs plants orchards with local schools and provides educational programs that empower young people and their families to grow their own home orchards and gardens.

Retail Promotion Plant Something! Plant Maine! Weekend PSPME! June Weekend promotion banners were featured in all of the Independent Garden Centers of Maine Spring TV ads. Geofencing Mobile campaign targeted all consumers utilizing their mobile phone within ¼ mile of targeted areas (24 Lowes and Home Depot stores in Southern and Central Maine). 85,392 impressions were served the Plant Something Weekend Message.

For more information: Don Sproul, MELNA Executive Director MngmtPlus@aol.com Mark Faunce, Flower Show Chair chairperson@maineflowershow.com Jody DeKupper, Independent Garden Centers of Maine Board Chair and Plant Something! Plant Maine! Chair jdekubber@yahoo.com Mark Sprackland, Marketing, mark@independentretailerscoop.com