Sustainability — Shaping Tomorrow   Greenhouse Product News December 2007   By Stan Pohmer
In an ongoing struggle to define sustainability, implement environmentally and economically responsible practices, and establish an industry-wide standard, it’s critical that we have a say today on what the future will look like.

Are You Ready For…   Greenhouse Product News October 2007   By Stan Pohmer
Fundamental changes in the economy, along with the consumer’s desire to buy sustainable products, will require growers to alter the way they operate.

Selling The Experience   Greenhouse Product News September 2007   By Stan Pohmer
Focusing solely on selling product just won’t cut it in today’s marketplace. It’s up to you to create a reason for consumers to spend in your garden center.
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Pohmer On...Controlling Your Destiny   Greenhouse Product News December 2006   Stan Pohmer
Your level of service and product quality won’t bring in higher prices if you can’t convince your customers of the value and benefits you offer.
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Pohmer On...Over The Horizon   Greenhouse Product News October 2006   By Stan Pohmer
Organics may make some of you cringe, but see what some of the industry’s major players are doing with them and how organics just may be the wave of the future for the green industry.
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Pohmer On...Good, Better, Best… Or Bust?   Greenhouse Product News September 2006   By Stan Pohmer
The Home Depot is implementing a new merchandising strategy in its garden centers, and based on the details I’ve heard, the change will alter the marketing philosophy and positioning of the entire garden center.
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Nobody Asked Me, But…   Greenhouse Product News May 2006   Stan Pohmer
Though it may not seem like it, there are many issues outside the green industry that affect your business.
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The World’s A-Changing… With Or Without You!   Greenhouse Product News January 2006   By Stan Pohmer
Is Wal-Mart’s new marketing strategy going to work with your business strategy?

Lessons To Learn…   Greenhouse Product News December 2005   By Stan Pohmer
Everything starts and stops at the register, with the consumer being the only person we ultimately need to please and satisfy. And all the other things we do each day need to focus on delivering value and the optimum experience for the end consumer.

The Power, The Fury… The Devastation   Greenhouse Product News October 2005   By Stan Pohmer
Hurricane Katrina caused massive damage not only to property but also to people’s lives. How does this recent natural disaster affect the businesses in our industry and the future of horticulture?
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My Office Is Not a Zoo!   Greenhouse Product News September 2005   By Stan Pohmer
By taking on the responsibility of making, or being involved in making, all of the decisions, we lose the opportunity to develop our team into independent, thinking, confident and responsible employees.
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An Industry of Silos…or the Power of One?   Greenhouse Product News August 2005   By Stan Pohmer
Repeating the way we do things today will only cause us to further lose touch with our elusive consumer and perpetuate a stagnating industry focused on channel conflict, not growth.
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The Perfect Plans…For Disaster   Greenhouse Product News May 2005   By Stan Pohmer
Too often we plan for perfection in an imperfect world and we wonder why we don’t achieve the results that we expected. In our industry, there are too many variables to ever expect that we’ll be able to execute the perfect plan.
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Who Has The Power?   Greenhouse Product News January 2005   By Stan Pohmer
It’s time for us to make the changes necessary to earn back those consumer dollars being spent in other industries that understand the differences in marketing to women.
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The Devil Is In The Details   Greenhouse Product News December 2004   By Stan Pohmer
Pay-by-scan is no longer a pipe dream, something to argue the merits of or challenge; it’s a reality. Rather than grumble about it, we all need to make it work for the benefit of the supplier, retailer and, most importantly, the consumer…that’s where the payoff is for all of us.
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The Four Ps Plus Two   Greenhouse Product News November 2004   By Stan Pohmer
If we’re passionate about our products and truly want to get our consumers to “catch our passion,” we need to be passionate about the service we provide them. Everyone at every level in our industry, from breeders to production staff, salespeople to cashiers, all have an equal opportunity to invest their passion into what the consumer buys.
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An   Greenhouse Product News October 2004   By Stan Pohmer
Franks never addressed its one fundamental issue…whether it was a chain of independent garden centers that offered a differentiated program from the mass marketers or whether it wanted to compete against the mass marketers and try to beat them at their own game.
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Nobody asked me, but…   Greenhouse Product News September 2004   By Stan Pohmer
I’d be cautious about putting too much faith in consumer confidence reports, where high confidence normally equates to higher consumer spending.
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Is Floriculture Relevant?…You Bet It Is!   Greenhouse Product News August 2004   By Stan Pohmer
If we, as an industry, begin to breed, produce, sell and market to meet the real needs and expectations of what today’s consumer wants to buy, might not we increase our relevancy with our current purchasers?
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Celebrations…   Greenhouse Product News July 2004   By Stan Pohmer
Few, if any other industries have people at all levels who are as committed and passionate about what they do, who can take in stride and rebound from the curveballs you’re constantly served up.
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Why Do We Do The Things We Do…?   Greenhouse Product News May 2004   By Stan Pohmer
Some of the genetic “improvements” that we’ve made over the years to benefit the growers have actually been at the expense of the benefits that the consumer sees.
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Rally ‘round the Flagpole   Greenhouse Product News March 2004   By Stan Pohmer
Companies need to do all things well to continue existing, but there are certain things that they need to do exceptionally well to be leaders and maintain their competitive edge and position…their core competencies.
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If The Shoe Fits. . .   Greenhouse Product News December 2003   Stan Pohmer
I'm hearing more now about problems resulting from untimely and incomplete communication and decision procrastination than I've ever heard before. Is there an easy answer to the challenge of deferred decisions or procrastination on making commitments? Not really. But you can educate your customers on the repercussions of these delayed decisions and what the alternative outcomes are with regards to quality.

Loss = Gain   Greenhouse Product News November 2003   Stan Pohmer
To survive in tough economic times, we need to be willing to accept the obvious and make the necessary changes, to analytically and unemotionally make the decision to intelligently cut the losses and re-invest the available resources.
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Spring 2003 Post-mortem   Greenhouse Product News October 2003   Stan Pohmer
If you didn't achieve your plan or even last year's sales numbers, you're not alone, which is why I'm going to look at spring a little differently...not from an absolute sales dollar standpoint, but rather from channel market share and consumer behavior measurements. This type of analysis provides the ability to track where sales ended up by retail segment type.
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No Room For Complacency Anymore   Greenhouse Product News September 2003   Stan Pohmer
Every retailer must constantly assess and reassess what's happening in the retail market place: What the competition is doing; what the consumers are thinking and how they are responding; what behaviors they are exhibiting; what's affecting their lives and expectations; and what new priorities they are setting. If it is determined that something needs to be changed as a result of this constant re-assessment process, the retailer needs to have the courage to determine what needs to be done and then do it.
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Stop The Insanity   Greenhouse Product News July 2003   Stan Pohmer
What are the growers and producers thinking when the buyers ask for or demand the prices that drive these insane promotions? When are we going to stop just trading dollars and either say "no" or develop promotions that add value other than price?
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The Kmart Saga Re-visited   Greenhouse Product News March 2003   Stan Pohmer
In this column one year ago, March 2002, I reviewed the January 2002 Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing by Kmart, the largest retail bankruptcy in U.S. history. It's now a year later. What's changed at Kmart in the past year? What does its future look like? What new lessons can we learn?

Business as Usual: It Just Ain't Gonna Cut it Anymore!   Greenhouse Product News September 2002   Stan Pohmer
The third and fourth quarters of 2002 are viewed by many economists and fortune tellers as being the precursor of things to expect in the first and second quarters of 2003, the time periods most important to the L&G industry--and right now things don't look too chili red hot. We have a unique opportunity to help make a positive difference for others and help ourselves at the same time, but it's going to require some major changes in the way we do business.

Customer Service: A Marketing Gimmick   Greenhouse Product News July 2002   Stan Pohmer
The recognition of the need to change our customer service focus is critical if we want to grow our sales and be competitive with the alternative choices consumers have.
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Market Expansion vs. Cannibalization   Greenhouse Product News May 2002   Stan Pohmer
Advertising generates more short-term gain than promotion does; it focuses on individual items one week at a time, while promotion focuses on a broader category with the aim of generating longer-lasting gains over time. Though it may take longer to achieve, the process of promotion should be a strategy that gets more attention and support within the horticulture industry than it currently does.
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The Demise of an Icon: Lessons to be Learned   Greenhouse Product News April 2002   Stan Pohmer
The recent actions at Kmart pose a whole litany of questions that beg to be answered. Can or will Kmart survive? What event(s) precipitated their financial collapse? What impact will their problems have on existing suppliers, short-term and long-term? And, most importantly, what lessons can we learn from Kmart’s problems that can be applied to our own businesses to prevent this from happening to us?

2002: The Year of the Chameleon   Greenhouse Product News December 2001   Stan Pohmer
2002 will be a year of continued change, challenge and uncertainty. Our business ecosystems will change for sure and the only way to survive and prosper will be to adapt to the changes, just like the chameleon.
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Turning Customers Into Consumers-One Approach   Greenhouse Product News October 2001   Stan Pohmer
You can make yourself a better alternative for the consumer by learning to think like one.
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Industry Promotion....the Good, the Bad and the Ugly   Greenhouse Product News September 2001   Stan Pohmer
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pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News June 2001   Stan Pohmer
Now that greenhouse growers have embraced branding, it might be the perfect time to take a second look at the message they are sending our customers.
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pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News June 2001   Stan Pohmer
Now that greenhouse growers have embraced branding, it might be the perfect time to take a second look at the message they are sending our customers.
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pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News March 2001   Stan Pohmer
Maybe it’s time to stop fighting against Wal-Mart and Home Depot and start using them to our advantage.
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pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News February 2001   Stan Pohmer
It’s starting to look like our time of economic prosperity might be coming to an end. Now more than ever, it becomes important for retailers to use every resource available to them.
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pohmer on marketing: Communicating an Integrated Message   Greenhouse Product News January 2001   By Stan Pohmer
Advertising alone won’t induce greenhouse shoppers to buy. An integrated approach whereby you clearly communicate the benefits of your products, and in turn give consumers a reason to buy, is essential.
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pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News November 2000   Stan Pohmer
A few key marketing strategies can help you move all of your inventory for the holiday season, as well as teach you a thing or two for the rest of the year.

pohmer on marketing   Greenhouse Product News September 2000   Stan Pohmer
Getting your brand to market is just the beginning. Once there, a branding message needs constant care. So roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Branding: The Creativity Conundrum   Greenhouse Product News August 2000   Stan Pohmer
The "creative flame" may not burn as brightly as you think within your company, which is why the prudent strategy may be to bring in outside expertise.

Branding: Where's the Beef?   Greenhouse Product News July 2000   Stan Pohmer
With apologies to Burger King, there comes a time in the course of developing a brand strategy when we must take a hard, honest look at our strengths and weaknesses versus those of our competition.

Branding: From the Chalkboard to the Field   Greenhouse Product News June 2000   Stan Pohmer
The fun begins (and a brand strategy truly can be fun) once you’ve stared down the demons.

Branding: Just the Tip of the Iceberg   Greenhouse Product News May 2000   Stan Pohmer
A successful brand carries the implicit promise of quality, performance, ease of use, or any number of other qualities; think twice about branding your products if they can’t deliver on what you promise.

Is the Floriculture Industry Ready to Get Serious About Marketing?   Greenhouse Product News April 2000   Stan Pohmer
In his first monthly column, Stan Pohmer lays the framework for marketing programs capable of going head to head with the real competition: non-floricultural products and services.

Turning 'Want' Products Into 'Need' Products   Greenhouse Product News October 1998   Stan Pohmer
BRanding is the catalyst in pull-through marketing, which compels everyone in the supply chain to put the focus on the end-consumer. If you're still skeptical, talk to the folks at Nike and Frito Lay.