I told guest "voice" Angela Treadwell-Palmer when I read her column as we were producing the March issue that she had everything it takes to do that columnizing thing full time. I love when someone takes a notion and runs with it, and, boy, did she run with the notion that our industry needs to do a better job of marketing plants.

As a result, we got several responses. Here's what Jonathan Pedersen, brand & business development manager at Bailey Nurseries, had to say about the article:

Hello Angela,

I read your recent article in GC mag today and I find many of your assertions amusing coming from a person who markets plants for a living! I do wonder if there is a touch of envy associated with them?

Anyway, that’s beside the point. What I couldn't agree with you on more is the need to start with great quality plants on the shelf at retail. Yes, consumers are after a well grown plant, but why stop there? No good marketer would; it’s really about what else can give your product an edge over either another brand or a generic “black pot” plant. And what’s the difference between throwing away a black pot or a colored one? None!  And our industry grows in the pot also so we are certainly not adding an enormous amount of packaging like many other items that consumers purchase every day.

Branding should never replace a great quality plant but the two work together. Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to a company's products that allows them to charge more for a brand than unbranded products. The consumer will show them with their pocketbook in the end. At  BNI we have this same discussion with customers all the time and we all need to think less like “plant nerds” and more like the customer you allude to in your article.

All the consumer studies I have seen and done suggest that Brand preference is alive and thriving with all consumable product groups from living to the non. Branding and presentation should not ever outweigh plant quality. And as an “Apple nerd” I agree that they are what the IGC needs to focus there attention on and I believe they have some of the best marketing and packaging to be fond on the globe. That apple icon is where the power of their identity and what there products mean to me as a user all comes together into the BRAND.