All about flowers : James Vick's nineteenth-century seed company

A nineteenth-century entrepreneur's bold, innovative marketing helped transform flower gardens into one of America's favorite hobbies. "There is much that is hard and productive of sorrow in this sin-plagued world of ours; and, had we no flowers, I believe existence would be hard to be borne." So states a customer's 1881 letter--one of thousands James Vick regularly received. Vick's business, selling flower seeds through the mail, wasn't unique, but it was wildly successful because he understood better than his rivals how to engage customers' emotions. He sold the love of flowers along with the flower seeds. Vick was genuinely passionate about floriculture, but he also pioneered what we now describe as integrated marketing. He spent a mind-boggling $100,000 per year on advertising (mostly to women, his target demographic); he courted newspaper editors for free publicity; his educational guides presaged today's content marketing; he recruited social influencers to popularize neighborhood gardening clubs; and he developed a visually rich communication and branding strategy to build customer loyalty and inflect their purchasing needs with purchasing desire.

A nineteenth-century entrepreneur's bold, innovativemarketing helped transform flower gardens into one of America'sfavorite hobbies.

"There is much that is hard and productive of sorrow in thissin-plagued world of ours; and, had we no flowers, I believeexistence would be hard to be borne." So states a customer's 1881letter-one of thousands James Vick regularly received. Vick'sbusiness, selling flower seeds through the mail, wasn't unique, butit was wildly successful because he understood better than hisrivals how to engage customers' emotions. He sold the love offlowers along with the flower seeds.

Vick was genuinely passionate about floriculture, but he alsopioneered what we now describe as integrated marketing. He spent amind-boggling $100,000 per year on advertising (mostly to women,his target demographic); he courted newspaper editors for freepublicity; his educational guides presaged today's contentmarketing; he recruited social influencers to popularizeneighborhood gardening clubs; and he developed a visually richcommunication and branding strategy to build customer loyalty andinflect their purchasing needs with purchasing desire.

"A nineteenth-century entrepreneur's bold, innovative marketing helped transform flower gardens into one of America's favorite hobbies. There is much in this sin-plagued world of ours; and, had we no flowers, I believe existence would be hard to be born. So states a customer's 1881 letter-one of thousands James Vick regularly received. Vick's business, selling flower seeds through the mail, wasn't unique, but it was wildly successful because he understood better than his rivals how to engage customers' emotions. He sold the love of flowers along with the flower seeds. Vick was genuinely passionate about floriculture, but he also pioneered what we now describe as integrated marketing. He spent a mind-boggling $100,000 per year on advertising (mostly to women, his target demographic); he courted newspaper editors for free publicity; his educational guides presaged today's content marketing; he recruited social influencers to popularize neighborhood gardening clubs; and he developed a visually rich communication and branding strategy to build customer loyalty and inflect their purchasing needs with purchasing desire"-- Provided by publisher Avid Flower Man James Vick Ingrained A Nationwide Conviction That No Home Was Complete Without Flowers And Transformed The Ordinary, Nineteenth-century American Mail-order Seed Business With An Unprecedented Marketing Strategy.