the big interview Bigger and better


Evergreen Garden Careboasts a portfolio of some of the most tried and trusted brands within the lawn and gardening categories. The business is embracing change under its new look name and ambitious new leadership team who has set its sights on transforming the way in which the company communicates to consumers.


he company is very much on a mission to create real category growth for each of its product ranges and to embrace an entirely new way of communicating product features and benefits to its consumers.


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“As a business, we are constantly evolving to meet changing market conditions and consumer demand,” says Evergreen Garden Care managing director, Mark Portman. “At the heart of our business are our power brands Miracle-Gro, Roundup and Evergreen, however, we know that we cannot rest on our laurels and become complacent just because we have these brands – we must continue to look for new product innovations and new ways to communicate with our audience.” Also critical to the success of the business, Mark says, is strong and consistent TV advertising campaigns designed to keep these brands in the limelight.


“Our new TV campaign, which runs from late March until mid June, will focus on our core brands and are designed to capture the viewer’s attention by promoting the end benefits of using our products. Historically, the category has been far too focused on the functional product benefits rather than connecting with consumers’ emotions. The way we use our gardens has evolved and the


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garden has become an extra room. Our new creative is all about improving the connection with our customer and motivating them to create their own beautiful green oasis to share wonderful moments in the garden with loved ones. With the high level of investment in this year’s campaign, which focuses on our most recent innovations for both the Miracle-Gro and Roundup brands, we will drive footfall into our retailers and convert consumer interest and awareness into more sales for them.” The TV advertising is part of Evergreen


Garden Care’s £3.5 million multi-platform consumer campaign for 2019, which includes PR, print, social media, video on demand, SEO, PPC and engaging in-store POS and displays. Another crucial factor to Evergreen Garden Care’s strategy is consumer research and insight.


Mark explains: “Consumer insights are absolutely critical to our success and are vital in helping us create a brand proposition that connects with our consumers in the most effective way. Miracle-Gro has been a much loved brand for retailers and consumers alike and is one of the most easily recognisable gardening brands within the industry. Evergreen is the market leader in the lawn fertiliser category and has also developed a very strong brand heritage over the last sixty


years. Research conducted last year revealed that many consumers perceived a link between these two brands, so even though they may be using Evergreen products, they actually believed they were already using a lawn food containing Miracle-Gro. This insight helped create one of the key building blocks for our new business – the creation of the Miracle-Gro Evergreen ‘superbrand’ for the lawn care category. This marriage of two such recognisable names will mean even stronger consumer confidence and increased sales, a win-win scenario for our retailers.” In terms of the way Evergreen Garden Care


presents its lawn care portfolio of products, according to Mark it is quite a radical change but initial customer feedback has been positive. “During research, end users told us that the


new packaging offers clear messaging and has increased their propensity to purchase. We are really confident that this is the right way forward. The new packaging also reflects the merger of the brands and provides increased consumer appeal, while still retaining the recognisable look and feel of Miracle-Gro products. Pack claims are also much stronger, focusing on the key product benefits such as super fast germination, impressive quality, outstanding performance and highlight the fact that all products are child and pet friendly too.”


GCU June 2019


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