MERCURYMESSENGERV o L . 5 2 N o . 2 , F T D N E w s L E T T E R © 2 0 0 9 , F T D | M ay 2 0 0 9

®

IN THIS ISSUE:Letter from the President 2

Introducing the FTD Luxury Collection 2

FTD Focus 3

FTD on the Road to Vegas 4

More Reasons to Celebrate 5

FTD Education Calendar 6

Cashing in on Collections 6

FTD Mercury X1 7

Celebrating 100 years of FTD 8

FTD® MERCURY MESSENGER l MAY 2009 3

®

FTD® – THE FLOWER EXPERTS™2

FTD® FOCUS

DEAR FTD FLORISTS,

Consistent with our pledge to show you

FTD’s commitment to bring new ideas,

strategies and a fresh perspective

to support our member florist’s

continued success, I am very pleased

to announce the launch of the new

FTD Luxury Collection.

The FTD Luxury Collection consists of a

beautiful assortment of artfully crafted

arrangements designed to capture the

imagination of consumers and inspire

them to purchase floral products for

every occasion. While many in our

industry today are focused on continually

reducing prices and lowering Average

Order Values, the FTD Luxury Collection

is just one of numerous FTD initiatives

recently launched to help our member

florists expand their businesses in a

challenging economic environment.

The suggested retail pricing for the

FTD Luxury Collection ranges from

$179.00 to $245.00 and will serve to

elevate both the FTD brand and the

image of our industry.

While we believe the FTD Luxury

Collection will be an aspirational addition

for both of us, we recognize the reality

of today’s economic climate. As a

result, we have created value priced

arrangements that are actually very

similar visually to the luxury collection

but simpler and with fewer stems.

Due to the unique nature of this new

collection and the consumer expectations

that come with these elevated price

points, the FTD Luxury Collection requires

specific codification and the purchase

of the FTD Luxury Collection kit. This kit

includes a new line of vases, a specially

designed and branded FTD Luxury

Collection delivery tray, organza bag,

message card and flower food with

care instructions. The components of

the FTD Luxury Collection kit have

been carefully crafted to ensure the

highest level customer experience and

the ultimate consumer satisfaction for

our collective customers.

To properly execute this new collection,

we will be featuring the FTD Luxury

Collection as a separate category on

our consumer Web site, FTD.com, and

we will continue to feature it as part

our Everyday line to our consumers. We

will be marketing and promoting the

FTD Luxury Collection on the FTD.com

homepage as well as through other

direct-to-consumer marketing channels

to maximize order volume. Florists

codified for the Luxury Collection will

preferentially receive orders in their

respective delivery zones.

I am truly excited to be able to bring the

FTD Luxury Collection to the members

of FTD. We are delighted that these

products will showcase the artistic

capabilities of our FTD Florists and

demonstrate thepowerof theFTDnetwork.

Best regards,

Rob apatoffPresident

RP11

RP57RP15

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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New FTD Luxury Collectionpackaging, tray andorganza accessory bag.

INTRODUCING THE FTD

Lu X u RyC O L L E C T I O N

Datebook

HolidayMini Guide

Volume 49Mini Guide

bRaND NEw IMPRINT ITEMsTHAT WILL HELP YOU GET YOUR SHOP NAMEOUT THERE EVERYDAYSee pages MP48 – MP60 of the FTD Fall/Winter Buyers Guide for imprint.

THREE NEw CoNTaINERsTHaT Go FRoMHoLIDay To EVERyDay!

Wall Calendar

Your Imprint Here1234 Main Street

Downers Grove, IL 123451-800-123-4567

Your Imprint Here1234 Main Street

Downers Grove, IL 123451-800-123-4567

Your Imprint/Logo Here

FTD is the leading sponsor of the 2009 Super Floral Show (SFS) in Atlanta in June.

The annual tradeshow is the floral industry’s largest show for high-volume buyers.

SFS is the premier show where many influential buyers and sellers gather to grow sales,

relationships, and locate new products that capitalize on the next consumer trend.

In addition to FTD’s gold sponsorship of SFS, Mark Goldston, Chairman, President and CEO

of United Online and Chairman and CEO of FTD, will be the keynote speaker during

lunch on Wednesday, June 10. FTD will also have an exhibit on the tradeshow floor.

For more information about registering to attend SFS,go to www.superfloralshow.com.

FTD Marketplace is offering florists three more reasons to codify for FTD’s

new line of containers! All three of these can be used for holiday and

everyday fulfillment.

The Fall/Winter 2009 FTD® Buyers Guide is available now featuring an exciting

new collection of containers with stunning floral designs. The codification deadline

for the Fall/ Holiday FTD Directory is July 14. Order now with your FTD Marketplace

Representative at 800-767-4000.

Call your FTD MarketplaceRepresentative today at 800-7687-4000

FTD TAKES LEAD SPONSORSHIPOF FLORAL SHOW

GoLDsToN To PREsENTKEyNoTE aDDREss aTsuPER FLoRaL sHow

HoLIDay EVERyDay

The FTD® Autumn Bouquet The FTD® Complete Happiness™ Bouquet

The FTD® Silver Tidings™ Bouquet The FTD® Simple Elegance™ Bouquet

The FTD® Holiday Wishes Bouquet The FTD® Pure Reflections™ Bouquet

FTD® MERCURY MESSENGER l MAY 20094 5

® ON THE ROAD CELEBRATIONS

FTD ON THE ROADIN LAS VEGAS

FTD FLORIST WINS MICHIGANDESIGN COMPETITION

FTD FLORISTSON TV

BOSTONFLORISTHONOREDAS SAFMARKETEROF THE YEAR

FTD was on the road this winter, meeting FTD

Florists across North America. In February,

FTD hosted a conference at the Renaissance

Las Vegas Hotel.

The event was a smashing success, packed

with terrific educational seminars, exciting

design shows, hands-on workshops and a

bustling trade fair. Almost 200 FTD Florists

came out to attend this great show and

network with fellow florists and FTD Staff.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT:FTD Design Instructor Ann Jordan taught participantshow to make hand-tied bouquets to a full house.

FTD Design Instructor Deborah De La Flor led a hands-on workshop full of enthusiastic florists about corsages.

FTD Members shopped in the trade fair featuringvendors such as The John Henry Company, La La,Organic Bouquet and more.

David Fisher from Sweets In Bloom in thetrade fair. Sweets in Bloom is a vendor forthe FTD WebGifts program.

In recognition of his award as FloralMarketer of the Year by Society ofAmerican Florists (SAF), RickCanale (right) of Exotic Flowersand Gifts in Boston, MA accepteda congratulations plaque from FTDSales Representative Jim Weedon.Exotic Flowers received the awardfor its creative marketing tacticsespecially its designation as the“Official Florist of theBoston Red Sox.”

Golden Leaf Florist and Bridal in Lancaster, CAcelebrated the shop’s first Valentine’s Day as anFTD member in February. Featured from left toright, Jeanell Wood, Erika Hagans, Debbie Smith,Deanna Smith, Angela Mikailian.

LeMee Florist in Jacksonville, FL attracted customers to its Outdoor Valentine’sDay Sale with these fire engine red Cadillac convertibles that were parkedoutside the shop and decorated with balloons and plush.

Lou Gentile’s Flower Basket inFresno, CA was the contributingflorist for the ABC-TV showExtreme Home Makeover. In theshow, which aired in March, theflorist provided all of the flowersfor the home and the show whileon location in Fresno.

Coatesville Flower Shop inCoatesville, PA celebrated its60th anniversary. As part of thecelebration, the shop distributeda special shop newsletterto all customers and guests.

FTD® – THE FLOWER EXPERTS™

FTD Florist Doug Bates from Designs By Vogts in Sturgis, Michigan received

statewide recognition at the spring conference of the Michigan Floral

Association in March.

Bates was named the winner at an awards banquet. He also received a

monetary award and his design will be featured in an upcoming issue of

Michigan Florist magazine.

His wife, Karen, encouraged

him to enter the contest,

as did several of his friends.

“Now I’m glad I did,” said Doug.

“In addition to the recognition,

which is great, I received

feedback and critique about

my other entries from highly

talented designers in the

industry. That is what will help

me to hone and develop my art

as a floral designer.”

Gus Pappas (far right) from Norton’s Flowerswasfeatured on ABC-TV in Birmingham, AL for theircreative Elvis delivery idea for Valentine’s Day.This special delivery offer allowed customers tohave their Valentine’s Day flowers delivered by anElvis impersonator and the recipient serenadedwith one of their favorite Elvis songs.

Roberts Floral and Gifts in Bismarck, NDcelebrated its 50th anniversary in Januarywith a multi-level cake decorated with liliesand roses. Pictured from left to right areFTD Field Business Consultant Joanne Looby,Pat and Laura Ressler, Herb and Julie Roberts.

FTD AT THE ILLINOIS STATE SHOW

Doug Bates of Designs By Vogtswith his award-winning design

FLORISTS CELEBRATEVALENTINE’S DAY

FLORAL SHOPSCELEBRATE ANNIVERSARIESFTD Design Instructor

Deborah De La Florduring her weddingdesign show

FTD Field BusinessConsultantsEdgar DeLaGarzaand Tom Spainat the FTD Booth

FTD® – THE FLOWER EXPERTS™FTD® MERCURY MESSENGER l MAY 2009 7

® EDUCATION FTD® MERCURY X1

With a slump in the economy,

your wedding business can

easily take a nose dive unless

you take a proactive approach to

gaining your slice of the wedding pie.

While the phrase “wedding package”

causes some brides to cringe with visions

of the old days when a florist handed over a flower box lined

with tissue paper and filled it with designs created for a tight

budget, this is no longer the case.

Fast forward a few decades and reinvent the concept.

Create designs with modern botanicals that brides want;

change the package name to Floral Collections; and, voila,–

you have a powerful marketing tool.

Collections serve a two-fold purpose – they allow brides to

understand the shop’s product offerings and it forces you

to organize your products and prices on paper. The latter

can go a long way to strengthen the profits of your business.

Unlike past days when wedding packages were designed to

combat budgetary concerns, today’s collections are designed

for convenience.

Modern brides, unlike their contemporaries of yesteryear, are

using the phone and Internet to accomplish much of their

nuptial planning, due to hectic schedules and, in many cases,

distance from the wedding site. Therefore, the traditional

sit-down-in-store floral consultation may not always be

feasible. Instead of the florist sitting down gathering

information from the bride to provide her with a quote, you

now need to take the proactive role of putting choices and

prices in front of her to capture her attention. Do not assume

this approach is for all brides – it definitely is not. The

success of floral anthologies will depend on your marketing,

your demographics and your flexibility.

To pique a bride’s interest for collections, the concept should

be presented with options such as tiered pricing. The tiers

should reflect the desired level of service and the amount

of product selected. To have more marketing appeal with

competitive price points, include only the essential bridal

items and offer an à la carte menu so the client can purchase

additional items. For example, a good compilation in a basic

collection would include bouquets for the bride, an honor

attendant, 3 bridesmaids, 6 corsages, 12 boutonnieres,

6 centerpieces, a toss bouquet and petals for the cake table

(or flower girl).

If the majority of brides will not go with this concept you may

say, “Why bother?” The answer is simple. A presentation of

floral options provides a starting point to begin discussions

about your custom products and services, as well as

educating a bride about pricing expectations. You have

experienced a consultation that starts out to be Cinderella’s

dream wedding only to have it cut to basics when the bride

reveals her budget belongs to the old lady who lived in the

shoe. As a result, the bride becomes frustrated with you

for not providing the day of her dreams and goes to a

competitor. In essence, this example of a consultation was

an education process that allowed another florist to capture

the sale — your time of consulting and preparing a quote

gained you no benefit.

Offering an assortment of preset wedding packages at a

variety of price points also opens the door for you to set a

minimum price for your custom weddings, much like event

planners. If a bride knows wedding collections are offered

from $499 to $1,249, they are less likely to be shocked to see

your custom designed weddings starting at $1,500.

After you take the time to prepare your wedding offerings,

display it in a presentable format such as hand-outs, PDF

formats to send as email, online or all of the above. A custom

Web site can cost as little as a few dollars a month.

Purchasing a catchy domain name is as little as $10 a year.

Realistically, you will sell weddings from your collection

packages. Better yet, you will start seeing better returns on

your custom wedding work.

Jeff Corbin is a member of the FTD Education Team and

owns Radford City Florist in Radford, VA.

Released in March 2009, FTD Mercury X1 is the newest

version of FTD’s flagship florist technology software. Included

in this release are several new and exclusive features

designed to help florists provide better customer service

and significantly improve technology workflow.

First, FTDMercury X1 includes Order Life Cycle capabilities –

cutting edge technology for enhanced customer service!

Order Life Cycle enables florists to keep up with the status

of wire out orders automatically – without having to call or

send messages to the filling florist. When you check the

status of any wire out order in FTD Mercury X1, as long as

the filling florist is also using FTD Mercury X1, you can

view the up-to-the-minute status for the order. You can

see when the filling florist received the order, when the

order was attached, when it was marked designed, when

it was put on the delivery truck, and when it was delivered.

With the capability to see order status without having to

contact the filling florist, you can easily improve your

customer service and save time. No more calls, no more

messages – just happy customers!

Another important and feature in FTD Mercury X1 is the

ability to upload and manage products for your Florists

Online Web site using FTD Mercury. You already maintain

your products in Mercury, including pricing, product

descriptions, and images of the product. With the click of

a button, you can upload the products to your Florists

Online Web site. You can even upload products to multiple

Florists Online Web sites if you maintain more than one.

This integration not only enables you to put your custom

products on your site, but also update pricing at holiday

times, control product availability, and select add-ons to

include with your products. Stop double-maintaining

product information and leverage the power of

FTD Mercury X1!

FTD Mercury X1 is a free update for current users of

FTD Mercury. For more information about the upgrade,

visitMerc Tech U at floristwiki.ftdi.com. You can also request

an upgrade CD by contacting the Mercury Technology

Assistance Center (MTAC) at 1-888-309-2244.

Launched in 2008, MTAC Live Chat enables you to contact

theMercury Technology AssistanceCenter via your computer

and chat virtually with an MTAC representative. Avoid tying

up your phone line when you have support questions

about FTD Mercury and Mercury Direct – you can type your

question, continue working in your shop, and a live

representative will respond in the chat window. It’s

support your way!

To access MTAC Live Chat, go to Merc Tech U

(floristwiki.ftdi.com) and click on the MTAC Live Chat

button in the left navigation area. Representatives are

available to chat from 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM Central time

Monday through Friday and 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM Central

on Saturday.

The FTD Mercury Technology Team is very interested in

your feedback about FTD Mercury. With that in mind, we

have created a feedback form where you can submit

ideas for enhancements in FTD Mercury, as well as

feedback about the product. This form automatically

emails key members of our team, enabling us to see your

ideas and react to any potential concerns you may have

about FTD Mercury. Please feel free to provide your

feedback by going to Merc Tech U (floristwiki.ftdi.com) and

clicking on the Feedback link in the left navigation area.

Together, florists and FTD can make FTD Mercury an even

better technology solution!

CASHING IN ON COLLECTIONSBY JEFF CORBIN AAF, AIFD, PFCI, AIFD, PFCI

June 5-7, 2009Florida state Florists’ association ConventionHilton St. Petersburg Bayfront · St. Petersburg, FLFeatured: FTD Design InstructorAnn Jordan AAF,AIFD, mmfd

June 23, 2009Delaware Valley Florists’ association Design showSheraton Bucks County Hotel · Langhorne, PAFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Ian Prosser AAF, AIFD,NDSF, PFCI

July 11-16, 2009aIFD National symposiumHyatt Regency Crown Center · Kansas City, MOFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Deborah De La Flor AIFD,PFCI (with Tanus Saab & Paulo Perissoto of Brazil)

July 24-26, 2009Texas state Florists’ association ConventionDoubletree Hotel Dallas near the Galleria · Dallas, TXFeatured: FTD Design Instructor J. Keith White AIFD

July 24-26, 2009south Carolina Florists’ association ConventionEmbassy Suites Columbia - Greystone · Columbia, SCFeatured: FTD Design Instructor John Klingel AAF,AIFD, PFCI

July 24-26, 2009Heartland Floral ConventionMetropolitan Community College Omaha, NEFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Ian Prosser AAF, AIFD,NDSF, PFCI

July 25-26, 2009Louisiana state Florists’ association ConventionRiver Oaks Convention Center · Lafayette, LAFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Kristine Kratt AIFD

July 31 – aug. 2, 2009oklahoma state Florists’ association ConventionReed Center · Midwest City, OKFeatured: FTD Design Instructor J. KeithWhite AIFD

July 31 – aug. 2, 2009Tennessee state Florists’ association ConventionFranklin Marriott Cool Springs · Franklin, TNFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Toomie Farris AAF,AIFD

aug. 7-9, 2009wesTexas New MexicoFlorists’ association ConventionThe Lodge at Sierra Blanca · Ruidoso, NMFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Jeff Corbin AAF,AIFD, PFCI

aug. 11, 2009Central Florida Florist association Design showMattern Wholesale Florist · Orlando, FLFeatured: FTD Design Instructor Jeff Corbin AAF,AIFD, PFCI

aug. 28-30, 2009southern Retail Florist association ConventionConcord Convention Center · Concord, NCFeatured: FTD Design InstructorAnn JordanAAF, AIFD, mmfd

For more details go towww.FTDi.com/education/calendar

EVENTs CaLENDaR

6

FTD MERCuRy X1 aDDsPowERFuL aND

EXCLusIVE FEaTuREs

suPPoRT youR way –CHaT LIVE wITH

MERCuRy suPPoRT

wE waNT youRFTD MERCuRy

FEEDbaCK

“Collections serve a two-fold purpose –they allow brides to understand theshop’s product offerings and it forcesyou to organize your products and

prices on paper.”

F Y I P H O N E N U M B E R S

® 100 YEARS OF FTD®

1926 bouquet stuffers

1938 Collier’s ad for Mother’s Day

1931Collier’s ad combining flowers with football 1926 FTD in-store poster 1951 FTD ad featuring Elizabeth Taylor1928 ad in Liberty magazine

CELEBRATING100 YEARS OF FTD

1910-2010SHARE THE MEMORIES !

Do you have any FTD memorabiliathat should be featured

in the newsletter celebratingFTD’s 100 year anniversary?

Let us know at prdept@ftdi.com

FTD MARKETPLACE SALES • 800-767-4000marketplacesales@ftdi.com

FTD FLOWER EXCHANGE • 800-767-4000ftdflowerexchange.com

FTD MEMBER SERVICES • 800-788-9000membership@ftdi.com

FTD TECHNOLOGY SALES • 800-767-3222techsales@ftdi.com

FTD FLORISTS ONLINE • 800-576-6721floristsonline@ftdi.com

FTD FLOWERS ALL HOURS • 800-669-1000fah@ftdi.com

FTD CASH-FLO • 800-788-9000 EXT. 4262cashflo@ftdi.com

FTD DIRECTORY SERVICES • 800-788-9000directoryservices@ftdi.com

NEWSLETTER • prdept@ftdi.com

INTERNATIONAL RETRANS • retrans@ftdi.com

1926 New york Flower show brochures 1931 FTD Valentine’s Day ad

THE FTD TEaM Is woRKING FoR you!FIND YOUR FTD BUSINESS CONSULTANT at FTDi.COM