Building a big brand on a small budget

Established in 1997, as an online supplier of floral gifts and arrangements, the Johannesburg-based company has leveraged its strength and recognition in online flower and gift shopping to substantially broaden the repertoire it offers online shoppers.

Building a personality

Realising from the outset that it was in the business of emotion, NetFlorist actively decided not to become too sentimental in the process of developing its brand.

“We decided that we wanted to develop a quirky, humorous personality, making humour an intrinsic part of our make-up and how our customers identify with us,” says Sue Morris, NetFlorist's marketing director.

“As far as we are concerned, we are in the business of delivering smiles so it makes sense for us to use a humorous approach whenever possible.”

Compensating for the limited amount of research it can do as a small company, NetFlorist strengthens and matures its brand through constant interaction with its consumers, attracting regular feedback that enables it to understand its market and their every-changing wants and needs.

It aims to be solid, consistent and creative in its messaging, helping it to behave as a big brand despite its small size.

“Our emphasis on quality creative efforts underpins our ability to maintain and strengthen the status of our brand,” explains Morris. “Small companies often under-invest in creativity and this comes back to bite them as they have no point of difference in the market.”

Brand activity

One of NetFlorist's obsessions in building its brand has been exhaustive measurement of all its promotional and brand-building activities - from above- to below-the-line, from print to online, and from to radio to television.

Assessment of conversion rates from campaigns and promotional activities with other parties has always been a top priority.

“It's important for us to know that we are doing the right things and associating with the right people,” adds Morris, stressing that brand-building and brand management have to be constantly massaged and monitored to avoid becoming compromised, stale, tarnished or irrelevant.

While NetFlorst has used a broad spread of media to develop its brand and increase bran awareness, radio has been its most successful ally in building brand recognition and “selling” brand attributes to consumers.

Online activity has also played a role in brand development - this has been particularly useful in punting the reminder service, which itself does an invaluable marketing job through helping customers not to forget or overlook important occasions and anniversaries.

With key words on search engines playing an increasingly important role in the way consumers use online sites, NetFlorist also makes use of this pay-per-click strategic word tool to get its name and brand into online customers' "faces".

Ten years on

Ten years after its inception, NetFlorist today has a strong and established niche for itself in the online gifting sector - and the outlook for future growth is extremely positive as bandwidth in South African improves and more and more consumers realise the inherent benefits of online purchasing.

With electricity load-shedding, traffic congestion and sky-high fuel prices an unfortunate reality, the convenience and cost-saving attributes of online flower and gift ordering have without doubt come of age.

“As we go forward, we want to retain our quirky personality but always ensure that it is backed up by reliability and trust, critical factors that give consumers peace of mind and create customer loyalty.”