Retail and Products Case Studies
Case Studies:
Field of Flowers
Divers Direct
Sound Advice
Field of Flowers
Based in: Davie, Florida
Description: Field of Flowers is a fresh flower superstore where customers can purchase more than 150 varieties of fresh-cut flowers by the stem or bunch, with a seven-day freshness guarantee. Its main office/store is in Davie with an additional store in Boca Raton.
Goal: Generate media coverage for Field of Flowers and its numerous differentiating factors - large variety, classes and seminars, enormous space, specialty adjuncts, etc.
Success: Boardroom Communications has had tremendous success in promoting Field of Flowers. We have uncovered a myriad of opportunities to be in the media as well as created many, many of them, and the photo options are always outstanding.
On an on-going basis, President and CEO Donn Flipse has been in the media. From television to newspapers to magazines, Flipse is a spokesperson for the industry, for small business owners, for retailers, for holiday-related business, etc. He has been on South Florida Today discussing long-stemmed tulips, on CNBC offering perspectives on the new administration's stance on small business, and many, many times on the local news regarding Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and the Christmas Holidays.
For three years he authored a monthly column which we created called FLOWER POWER which ran in Gold Coast Magazine, with a feature on a different flower every month. Boardroom Communications was responsible for launching a blog for Field of Flowers, under a character called Dr. Phil O. Dendron. We provide copy on a regular basis to keep the blog current and searchable.
We also created special events that were intriguing to the media, including photos with pets, naming a honey amber rose for an entrepreneur creating a beer for women, sponsoring a seminar with a local floral expert. We developed a program for Field of Flowers in conjunction with the sponsorship of the Florida Panthers, whereby engaged contestants vie for the chance to win free wedding flowers. All of these generated coverage and interest.
Additionally, we developed a program whereby Field of Flowers offers flowers to the wives, girlfriends and mothers of soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq for Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. This has been a part of the company for four years. We have also developed a program where Field of Flowers provides arrangements to local charities such as the Salvation Army and Women in distress which has created media - and good will. These initiatives not only generate major media coverage but tremendous good will as well.
Field of Flowers was thoroughly profiled in the Miami Herald and written about dozens of times in the Sun-Sentinel. Community sections regularly cover the activities of the company though our encouragement and the business pages cover acquisitions, as well. The company has been featured in the South Florida Business Journal nearly every year, and in the Boca Raton News, Boca Raton Observer, Gold Coast Magazine, South Florida CEO and Smart Business.
We also introduced Field of Flowers to Equilibrix and help initiate a successful e-mail marketing campaign. Field of Flowers continues to keep its customers and visitors apprised of activities, news, specials, festivals, and sales via a very effective e-mail newsletter. We have also implemented a blog and regularly keep it updated.
Boardroom Communications has had years of remarkable success with Field of Flowers.
Divers Direct
Based in: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Description: Diver's Direct is America's largest and most experienced dive retailer, stocking more than 25,000 different products for SCUBA divers and snorkelers. The company focuses its business on the catalog, retail, Internet and travel market segments. In addition to its Deerfield Beach headquarters/outlet store, Divers Direct operates Divers Direct Outlet stores in Orlando, West Palm Beach, Florida City, Key Largo, Key West and Fort Lauderdale. The company also has World Water Sports store in the Florida Keys.
Goal: Generate media coverage for Diver's Direct to encourage interest in scuba diving and thus, help drive sales to the company stores, web site and catalogs.
Success: Boardroom Communications approach to handling the public relations for Divers Direct was two-pronged. On a local level, we worked to generate interest and enthusiasm about diving and the company by approaching the media with various news and activities about the company. On the national level, we repeated the interest but rather than focusing on the stores, we encouraged interest in the catalog and the Internet services.
The response in both cases was very positive and very effective. From the Keynoter, Key Largo Independent, Key West Citizen to the Miami Herald, information about Divers Direct was consistently included - sales news, events, quotes from owner Kevin Senecal, etc. Florida Trend, the Sun Sentinel, the Palm Beach Post, and the electronic media (WPLG - TV 10, WJNO News Radio 1290, WIOD Newsradio 610) all conducted interviews with Divers Direct executives. The company also received exposure in The Robb Report and USA Today.
Boardroom Communications capitalized on the tremendous Florida Keys Spiegel Grove event to position Divers Direct management as experts in the dive industry, and to promote diving in general. We went to business writers to talk about the business of running a national dive shop, to sports reporters to relate the activity of diving.
On a national level, our targets were mainstream diving magazines as well as catalog reports. Divers Direct was included in publications such as Rodale's Scuba Diving, Catalog Age, Dive Report, Florida Scuba News, The Captain's Table, and the Boating News. Due to Boardroom's services, Divers Direct remained in the front of the minds of diving enthusiasts, the audience most important to the company.
Sound Advice
Nasdaq National Market: SUND
Based in: Dania Beach, FL
Description: Founded in 1974, Sound Advice, Inc. grew to become Florida's largest specialty retailer of high-quality, upscale home entertainment and consumer electronics products. With its unique, upscale store design, the company operated 24 Sound Advice stores throughout Florida and four concept stores under the Bang & Olufsen name. Additional stores from an acquisition were located in Arizona. We represented Sound Advice for almost four years until the company was sold in 2001.
Goal: Strengthen public perception of Sound Advice as the cutting edge provider of high-level audio and video equipment, as well as handle a significant portion of the financial relations of this public company.
Success: In every sense, Boardroom Communications achieved its goal for Sound Advice. The firm was committed to strengthening the perception of the public that Sound Advice is the premier electronics retailer.
Media coverage in the consumer, trade and financial media was exhaustive. The Florida Times Union, Tampa Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Sun Sentinel and virtually every major daily wrote extensively about Sound Advice. This included the South Florida Business Journal, the Daily Business Review, the Naples Daily News, the Tallahassee Democrat, the Jacksonville Business Journal, the Gainesville Sun, the Coral Gables Gazette, the Boca Raton News and the Palm Beach Post. New products and new stores were eagerly covered. Trade magazines such as TWICE (This Week In Consumer Electronics) routinely followed our pitches on Sound Advice. The company's automotive electronics were thoroughly covered in newspapers throughout the state. Dbusiness.com and the Wall Street Transcript devoted many columns to Sound Advice. TV stations including WSVN-TV, WTVJ-TV, WSCV-TV, WFTS-TV and WPLG-TV frequently ran stories on the company, its products or its business.
Sound Advice embarked on two new business opportunities: acquisition of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Showcase Electronics, and the company's ultra-high tech Electronic Interiors concept store. When the "quiet period" passed, many periodicals pursued Sound Advice, including the Wall Street Journal, Florida Trend, Dow Jones Report, and Kiplinger Magazine.
Have a question? Contact us today! 954-370-8999
