A 4am alarm in February can only mean one thing – Garden Press Event time!
It was always set to be a busy day with two clients there, taking care of Westland and The Plant Based Podcast, and that was certainly the case.
The day kicked off with a pre-show meeting with The Plant Based Podcast to catch up on how everything’s been going since the launch a few weeks ago and plans for next steps. Michael was unable to join us as he had been called away to do some presenting for This Morning but he’d join us later in the day. Then it was in to the show! And it was non-stop from there, without even a break for lunch.
The first port of call was the huge Westland stand which was at the very front of the exhibition area – you couldn’t miss it!
With so many brands to show off, we’d split the Westland stand into four themes that unite the products from all brands. The first was “Feel Good Gardening” which celebrated wellbeing and environmentally conscious gardening, then into “Passionate About Lawns” which focussed on helping lawns recover from last year’s droughts and the damage caused. Then into “Small Space and Indoor Gardening” which was filled with inspiring houseplants and terrariums to show off the vast indoor product range, and then finally “Technically Advanced Solutions”. If that wasn’t enough there was then a section for Crest products as well as Marshalls and then finally the star of the show, New Horizon. The Garden Press Event was part of the launch campaign for New Horizon, which is the result of 18 years of research and £35 million investment, and press were able to sign up to have a free bag sent to their home for their to try. There was A LOT of interest so now it’s time to follow up on all the enquiries and to convert them all into coverage!
There was also a lot of interest in The Plant Based Podcast. With it only launching a few weeks ago this one of the first times we gained genuine, in-person feedback from passionate gardeners and media. It was so nice to hear how highly people thought of it!
All that whilst catching up with journalists, bloggers and exhibitors! The train journey home provided a very welcome seat after standing and chatting all day!!
The Garden Press Event is such a unique day. Normally shows are for either consumers or trade, often with a press day before the show formally opens. However, the Garden Press Event is uniquely purely for media to attend. It’s fantastic because there is genuine interest about the brands and products, and isn’t about selling. Every person who comes on to the stand has a unique reason for wanting to be there, and has a certain angle they are looking to find out about. This all means that their interest is genuine and they are passionate and knowledgeable about what they want to find out.
It was especially lovely this year with it being the first time at the show since Honest Communications launched. It was the first time to catch up with a lot of journalists in person since November and it was amazing to receive feedback and such overwhelming support from so many people. Thanks to everyone that stopped to catch up, it was lovely to see so many familiar faces and to meet new ones!
