A thank you note sent to Sunflower Flats in Tillamook, Oregon. “[Petal It Forward] was a great reminder that it doesn’t take much effort to brighten someone’s day,” Natalie Rieger said.
Staff members from Peoples Flower Shops handed out flowers in in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then shared images of happy recipients throughout the day on social media.
On Instagram, the civic group ThisIsBoise.com gave a shout-out to local florists handing out flowers, including Fifty Flowers, a shop that handed out 6,500 roses with support from its grower partners in Ecuador and Colombia, said Liza Roeser Atwood.
City Line Florist in Shelton and Trumbull, Connecticut, hosted reporters in store for interviews about Petal It Forward (and then shared the behind the scenes footage of the interview via social media — smart!)
FTD partnered with City Scents Floral & Home in Chicago for Petal It Forward. The shop distributed bouquets on the Magnificent Mile.
Mike Mooney, sales manager at Dramm & Echter in Encinitas, California, hit the streets with John Hamala, account & sales specialist, and Lani Conklin, marketing manager & sales support, to give out 3,000 gerberas from their farm. The team shared funny videos of their interactions throughout the day, including a stop at the beach, where they gifted a bouquet to a lifeguard.
The team at Allan’s Flowers headed to downtown Prescott, Arizona, to hand out their Petal It Forward bouquets.
Megan and Annie of “Team Blumz” (of Blumz by JR Designs) drove two vans of flowers to Campus Maritus Park in Downtown Detroit to hand out more than 1,000 bouquets. “We planned to be at the park for about three hours but all the bouquets were gone in less than 45 minutes,” according to a shop blog post.
Chester’s Flower Shop and Greenhouses in Utica, New York, handed out 850 bunches of flowers, including some that ended up in the hands of a hospitalized senior citizen “who really needed to smile.” “We had lots of PR and lots of smiling faces,” said Bill Waszkiewicz.
“We were absolutely thrilled with the outcome of the event,” said John Burk of DV Floral Group’s Philadelphia office, which supported 40 customers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic who handed out a total of 8,000-plus bouquets, including Richardson’s Flowers in Medford, New Jersey (pictured).
Kennicott Brothers Wholesale, headquartered in Chicago, helped many of its retailers participate in Petal It Forward, including including K Mike Whittle Designs in Marietta, Georgia, which handed out 650 bouquets in 25 minutes.
“The shock and the joy…all in one shot,” is how the team at Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co. in Princeton, New Jersey, described a recipient’s reaction to free flowers, when the shop shared the sweet series of images on Instagram.
In downtown Dallas, Dr. Delphinium Designs & Events handed out hundreds of bouquets. The shop also scored some great press coverage for its giveaway, including coverage by the local CBS affiliate.
“At the Sun Valley Floral Farms, we tallied up all the donations, to find we donated over 30,000 stems to Petal It Forward,” said Bill Prescott, marketing communications specialist for the company, located in Arcata, California. The company also posted a detailed blog entry promoting the event (pictured). “By all accounts it was a great day, and we were very happy to support SAF and all their members.”
SAF’s social media campaign, funded by Asocolflores, featured posts and tweets on SAF’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter consumer pages. To boost the reach beyond SAF’s page followers, SAF employed paid promotion on Facebook and Instagram to take the message viral. Total social media impressions to date, generated by the SAF social media campaign is 1,006, 324, and 50,235 engagements (likes, comments, shares). Claudia Castellanos of Asocolflores (pictured) joined the NYC Petal It Forward team.
