Fashion industry as model.
I am debating whether to enter or not. It all comes down to this
SALABLE.
There are designs shown by some on this board that would certainly generate an immediate complaint in my market. I am NOT saying they aren't artistic, professional, cool etc. I am just saying they would not sell in my market.
the dozen rose designs we sell here are pretty traditional. We jazz them up with different fillers, greenery etc but a dz roses here would be dissed in other markets as not upscale or "creative".
So do I want to spend time to enter this contest or spend the time marketing to a new prospective client opportunity that presented itself this morning.
I will be interested to see what is entered. But design competitions while thought provoking and unique do not always equate into a salable product with adequate vase life for the consumer.
Kristine,
I completely and thoroughly understand what you are saying. I hear this all the time at design programs. I understand. I understand.
BUT what many people who say this don't understand, is the power that "unsellable" designs can have for an industry.
What you are talking about is that a customer may see the design and may have insecurity about buying it without hand-holding. This always happens with a concept that is new or different. It is the job of the "sales person" (different from a "clerk", who just rings up a sale) to show the attributes of the design, explain why it could be preferable to what they are used to, and help bring the customer to the next level.
I sincerely believe that we lose a lot of potential sales because the public has lost excitement for the designs that most florists put out there. I'm not talking about losing a sale of someone who comes into your shop to buy flowers. I'm talking about people not thinking of flowers as an exciting gift or an exciting addition to their home. You think you're competing against other florists, but actually we are competing against any other place where people potentially spend discretionary income.
When people go to a Parade Of Homes, they may not actually want to buy every new concept they see, but seeing new over-the-top is what builds excitement about what they could do in their own home. Their home is level 2. The model home is level 10. They try to bring their home up to 3 or 4, not up to level 10.
Look at the fashion industry. Fashion week in NYC or Paris or Milan. Most of the designs are over-the-top. You don't see people wearing this stuff on the street every day. But this is the stuff that builds or breaks a reputation. The interest that is created by "non-sellable" fashions creates the reputation for the design lines that actually do sell. The sell watered-down versions. But the artsy stuff is what gets people interested.
My over-the-top artsy stuff may not always fly out the door, but it creates interest that brings people into my shop. Then they buy something that is close, but not quite as artsy. Sometimes the right customer actually wants the arty stuff, too.
Arthur from Babylon, who has a great gallery here at FC, has built his reputation in Denver by showing completely unsalable designs. Especially the bizarre flowers-in-hair fashion show stuff. But he sells small gorgeous hair pieces for brides and people going to parties. The weird stuff gets their attention. The watered-down version gets their wallets.
I did an over-the-top bridal bouquet made of just beargrass, wire and orchid blossoms for the wedding program on stage this year at AIFD. I made it again for the Colorado Retail Florists Association wedding bouquet design contest and won (pictures on my gallery page). All the other bouquets were cascading or massed. My artsy piece was exciting because it was so different. Salable? I've already had two brides book this bouquet (at $600) for their upcoming weddings - one this month, one in Oct. I plan to sell it many more times over the next year.
If an item is unsellable, it's often because the seller doesn't believe in the product being sold or because of lack of sales ability. Can every good sales person sell every product to every customer? No, of course not. But most people who say that something isn't salable just don't want to sell it or can't sell it.
I know that styles need to be appropriate for people's lifestyles. Part of what a designer must do is make adjustments with this in mind.
I hope that some of the artsy "non-salable" designs get votes based on their design, and not just what people "think" might sell in their shops. If the top 12 are safe salable items, it will create little excitement for the public or for florists.
