Most baseball fans see this week's playoffs as a chance to claim bragging rights for their teams — Denver florists BJ Dyer, AAF, AIFD, and Guenther Vogt, AAF, and Philadelphia florists Scott and Chad Kremp AAF, see a PR opportunity.
If Dyer's Colorado Rockies defeat Kremp's Philadelphia Phillies in the National League series (game No. 1 begins today), then Kremp will have to ship a box of locally grown floral products to Dyer's Denver shop, Bouquets. And, if the Phillies win the best of five, Dyer will ship Colorado-grown product to Kremp Florist in Philadelphia.
But what they're really betting on is media coverage. Dyer and Kremp will send their local media outlets press releases about the wager, in hopes of getting local coverage. Dyer says coverage of the playoffs dominated today's local paper, and he's hoping that the story about the florists betting will make subsequent coverage. "So that pulls the flower industry into the sports pages, where we would never otherwise be," he says, acknowledging that it's a good spot, strategically, for the industry. "All these guys buy flowers for their wives."
At press time, Dyer was attempting to recruit florists in the six other cities representing the playoff teams to participate in the bet and help generate some good public relations for the floral industry (American League teams: Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians; National League teams: Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks). One florist, Ken Young, AAF, of Phoenix Flower Shops, jumped on board to root for his Diamondbacks.
Dyer, who recently attended SAF Palm Springs 2007, says he was inspired to contact the media and create a buzz after attending "PR Boot Camp: Get In Shape Now," a program presented by SAF Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Sparks. She told attendees that, with a newsworthy and timely hook, florists can create their own media buzz.
In addition to the newspapers and television stations, Dyer says he'll send the release to radio stations that cover the game because "they love talking about bets."
--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org
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