Paul Greenwood makes the numbers bloom
Weber Harbeke Launches the First Premium Plant Brand for Migros
Weber Harbeke launches the first premium plant brand for MigrosBy Ernst Weber Migros launches a new strategic own brand with advertising support from Weber Harbeke: the houseplant brand Paul Greenwood. The retail giant is thus entering a consumer segment in which
which has not yet seen any brands bloom.
Paul Greenwood is the latest of around 30 strategic own brands that Migros currently offers. It was designed for urban flower lovers. They see houseplants as part of the home, and therefore as objects. But they should give pleasure and not cause any work. In order to meet the expectations of the target group, the new own brand exudes the scent of elitist and noble competence right down to the outermost ramifications of its USP.
The name Paul Greenwood is intended to build a bridge to English garden culture. This is regarded as highly developed and noble among connoisseurs. The surname in particular implies a corresponding product promise. For Matthias Haudenschild, the name evokes "the idea of an old, wise gardener who knows exactly what plants need". This is why the brand's penchant for personal style is readily accepted.
The French agency CBA, with whom similar projects had previously been realized, was commissioned to design the brand visual and find the name.
In order to carry the positioning to the POS, the brand plants are only stocked in staffed plant departments - in 50 urban and peri-urban Florissimo sales outlets throughout Switzerland. Plant lovers are only advised by employees who have undergone special training. In addition, the service staff must have completed an apprenticeship as a florist.
In fact, the range that Paul Greenwood is launching requires some additional knowledge. It includes nine exotic potted plants with high climate and location tolerance, such as orchids and succulents, "which not everyone knows". Some of the plants are bizarre in growth, others have special leaf shapes or rare hairs.
The ornamental plants are offered in designer pots of various shapes and materials such as metal, clay and wicker. "Consumers no longer have to get their hands dirty as they don't have to repot the houseplants at home," says Matthias Haudenschild, project manager at MGB. Another convenience is that each plant is provided with information about its origin and care instructions. All the plants are in the higher price segment.
Brands without a name are brands without a destination
"As far as I know, no plant convenience brand exists yet," says Lukas Mühlemann, Head of Marketing Communication at FMCG. He is convinced that he has discovered a market niche. Matthias Haudenschild is also optimistic. He considers the timing of the launch to be favorable, among other things, because the market is currently looking less for new mass products and more for products that are tailored to an individual target group.
According to Migros, around 90 percent of its entire product range consists of own brands. The remaining ten percent or so are third-party brands such as Pepsi or Kellog's. The integration of third-party brands will remain the exception, as they only serve the purpose of meaningfully supplementing and strengthening the company's own range, Migros says.
In the case of own brands, a distinction must be made between labels with and without strategic significance. Strategically meaningless are "characterless" own brands without a face, without their own identity, which are not really perceived as branded goods, but as Migros products.
On the other hand, the introduction of "characteristic" own brands with a distinct identity such as Slimline, Annas Best, Jana, Sunlook and the recently launched houseplant brand Paul Greenwood will support the development and expansion of certain product ranges.
Explicitly positioned own brands also give Migros the opportunity to penetrate foreign domestic sales channels that would remain closed to its non-profiled brands. A prerequisite that also applies identically to foreign business, as the examples of Midor biscuits and Chocolat Frey products, which are successful export goods because of their name, show. Urs Peter Naef, Deputy Head of Corporate Communications at FMCG, comments: "With our brand policy, we hope, among other things, to help our industry generate more export sales."
The brand ego becomes visible in advertising exaggeration
The Paul Greenwood label is also hoping to put down roots in non-Migros Swiss sales channels after a five-year build-up period and get on a green export track.
But for now, the focus is on the launch. Weber Harbeke's advertising campaign implements the strategic sentence "People love Paul Greenwood plants so much that they don't want to give them up" through advertising exaggeration. The motifs show potted plants secured against theft by a chain or wire rope and a padlock. Friends who come to visit could be entranced by the beauty of the plants and their containers and take them away. The visuals are broken up by the positioning campaign headline "Desirable plants".
"The implementation is almost slightly paranoid," says owner and CD Max Weber. The campaign, which appears in consumer, home and women's magazines, is flanked by flyers, store posters and carrier bags.
which has not yet seen any brands bloom.
Paul Greenwood is the latest of around 30 strategic own brands that Migros currently offers. It was designed for urban flower lovers. They see houseplants as part of the home, and therefore as objects. But they should give pleasure and not cause any work. In order to meet the expectations of the target group, the new own brand exudes the scent of elitist and noble competence right down to the outermost ramifications of its USP.
The name Paul Greenwood is intended to build a bridge to English garden culture. This is regarded as highly developed and noble among connoisseurs. The surname in particular implies a corresponding product promise. For Matthias Haudenschild, the name evokes "the idea of an old, wise gardener who knows exactly what plants need". This is why the brand's penchant for personal style is readily accepted.
The French agency CBA, with whom similar projects had previously been realized, was commissioned to design the brand visual and find the name.
In order to carry the positioning to the POS, the brand plants are only stocked in staffed plant departments - in 50 urban and peri-urban Florissimo sales outlets throughout Switzerland. Plant lovers are only advised by employees who have undergone special training. In addition, the service staff must have completed an apprenticeship as a florist.
In fact, the range that Paul Greenwood is launching requires some additional knowledge. It includes nine exotic potted plants with high climate and location tolerance, such as orchids and succulents, "which not everyone knows". Some of the plants are bizarre in growth, others have special leaf shapes or rare hairs.
The ornamental plants are offered in designer pots of various shapes and materials such as metal, clay and wicker. "Consumers no longer have to get their hands dirty as they don't have to repot the houseplants at home," says Matthias Haudenschild, project manager at MGB. Another convenience is that each plant is provided with information about its origin and care instructions. All the plants are in the higher price segment.
Brands without a name are brands without a destination
"As far as I know, no plant convenience brand exists yet," says Lukas Mühlemann, Head of Marketing Communication at FMCG. He is convinced that he has discovered a market niche. Matthias Haudenschild is also optimistic. He considers the timing of the launch to be favorable, among other things, because the market is currently looking less for new mass products and more for products that are tailored to an individual target group.
According to Migros, around 90 percent of its entire product range consists of own brands. The remaining ten percent or so are third-party brands such as Pepsi or Kellog's. The integration of third-party brands will remain the exception, as they only serve the purpose of meaningfully supplementing and strengthening the company's own range, Migros says.
In the case of own brands, a distinction must be made between labels with and without strategic significance. Strategically meaningless are "characterless" own brands without a face, without their own identity, which are not really perceived as branded goods, but as Migros products.
On the other hand, the introduction of "characteristic" own brands with a distinct identity such as Slimline, Annas Best, Jana, Sunlook and the recently launched houseplant brand Paul Greenwood will support the development and expansion of certain product ranges.
Explicitly positioned own brands also give Migros the opportunity to penetrate foreign domestic sales channels that would remain closed to its non-profiled brands. A prerequisite that also applies identically to foreign business, as the examples of Midor biscuits and Chocolat Frey products, which are successful export goods because of their name, show. Urs Peter Naef, Deputy Head of Corporate Communications at FMCG, comments: "With our brand policy, we hope, among other things, to help our industry generate more export sales."
The brand ego becomes visible in advertising exaggeration
The Paul Greenwood label is also hoping to put down roots in non-Migros Swiss sales channels after a five-year build-up period and get on a green export track.
But for now, the focus is on the launch. Weber Harbeke's advertising campaign implements the strategic sentence "People love Paul Greenwood plants so much that they don't want to give them up" through advertising exaggeration. The motifs show potted plants secured against theft by a chain or wire rope and a padlock. Friends who come to visit could be entranced by the beauty of the plants and their containers and take them away. The visuals are broken up by the positioning campaign headline "Desirable plants".
"The implementation is almost slightly paranoid," says owner and CD Max Weber. The campaign, which appears in consumer, home and women's magazines, is flanked by flyers, store posters and carrier bags.
