Most growers overlook marketing, with a bias toward sales rather than building a strong and sustainable brand. Through her answers to the 10 questions, Caroline Nederpelt explains brand marketing, awareness, and positioning 101.
Learn why starting with understanding your customers and the market is the most sustainable approach to selling and subsequently fulfilling the needs of your market segment. Here are the ten questions for Caroline Nederpelt; read on!
Question 1
For those who don’t know you, who are you, and what do you do?
"I am Caroline Nederpelt, mother of two sons (Mick aged 23 and Cas aged 21), and live with my boyfriend Arthur in The Hague, near Wateringen. I am a social person, surrounded by a lovely family and dear friends with whom I love to spend my free time. I get a lot of energy from that! I was born as the daughter of a grower from the Westland and grew up surrounded by greenhouses. My father grew paprika and we had a nursery in the centre of Wateringen.
I never had the ambition to necessarily work in the horticultural sector, quite the contrary. I have no fond memories of working with the paprikas during my childhood. Nevertheless, I started my career at the Flower Auction Westland in the communications department when I was in my early twenties. I often believe this did not come my way by chance. I entered the sector intending to do things differently from my father, who took his products directly to the auction without any knowledge of sales, customers or the market.
My passion now lies in approaching the sector from a marketing perspective, focusing on the customer and market developments. This is the common thread throughout my career. And, of course, I speak the language, both literally and figuratively!"
Question 2
What is so special about your job?
"My passion is to get marketing and communication between the ears of various organizations in the sector and thus help the industry move forward in this professionalization drive. When I started at the communication department of Flower Auction Westland in the early 1990s, almost only the auction employed communication staff. I then learned a lot as a project manager at the Project Bureau department of Bloemenbureau marketer for export companies such as Vida Verde and Adomex, but also for grower collectives such as Logico and Addenda. Indeed, a need for marketing specialists gradually arose at these companies as well, and I helped them establish structure from a sound basis or marketing proposition.
Since 2018, I have been working as a freelancer from CARO Marketing in Vers. I help companies in the floriculture sector increase their brand awareness and visibility. How do I do that? By bringing structure to marketing and communication, without fragmented actions and separate campaigns. Instead, I develop tailor-made communication strategies that work in the long term. The result is good visibility and an image that suits the company, making it stand out to customers, suppliers, and (future) employees. This ultimately leads to more sales, because, after all, that's what the collaboration between marketing and sales is for!
When I started in 2018, very few freelancers were active in this sector. Meanwhile, I have a WhatsApp group with more than 18 freelancers working on marketing in floriculture. This shows that the demand for professionalization in this field has increased in recent years. I like to capitalize on this to help companies in the floriculture sector move forward. I always advise these companies to find the perfect match, and that does not always have to be CARO!"
Question 3
Are there any specific challenges or obstacles you’ve faced at work, and how did you overcome them?
"There are challenges for me! One is to always keep updated on the latest developments in marketing. That is why I have been a board member of NIMA (Netherlands Institute of Marketing) for some time, within the Food & Agri marketing community (NIMA FAM). This way, I stay close to the source where it all happens in marketing.
Since 2018, from the NIMA FAM Community, together with Cock van Bommel and Ronald van Schie, I have been organizing a ‘Sierteelt Marketing Event’ (Floriculture Marketing Event) twice a year. This Event is for and by floriculture marketers, with the overarching aim of taking marketing and marketing communication in floriculture to a higher level. The aim is to make marketing an indispensable part of the sales process, in which customer- and market-oriented thinking and action are central. This ultimately leads to more sales for a company. Do you see the red thread in my career 😉
It is always exciting how many participants turn up to these events. The more interesting the topic, speakers, and location, the more participants we attract. A challenge every time, also for our next event: the 10th anniversary of our Sierteelt Marketing Event. I would like to take this opportunity to invite every floriculture marketer to attend. It is an absolute must for inspiration, information, and networking: 10th Sierteelt Marketing Event, 10e Sierteelt Marketing Event - NIMA."
Question 4
What are the threats in the industry, and if so, do you have any solutions for them?
"Let me mainly limit it to my area of expertise: actually, I want to be more than two Sierteelt Marketing Events a year. At the moment, marketing and marketing communication is so fragmented in our sector: Bloemenbureau Holland is there for promotion towards consumers, Royal FloraHolland has the retail services department with, among other things, Strategic Market Insight (SMI), we have a lot of marketers employed by the various companies in the floriculture chain, there are agencies in the sector that are busy with marketing and we also have the freelancers.
Everything these marketers know, do, and experience I want to bring together in one platform from which every floriculture marketer can learn and inform themselves, inspire, network, etc. Now everything is fragmented and I am for synergy, 1+1=3 and that is what I will be working hard for in the coming period. So who will join me?"
Question 5
How has technology like e-commerce platforms or digital marketing affected your industry, which strategies have you employed to stay competitive?
"The latest technologies hopefully provide the opportunity to realise my dream, my dot on the horizon, as described in question 4. Anyway, my field, marketing, is constantly evolving. Through the NIMA, I attend master classes and training courses to keep my knowledge and skills up to date. For example, I took a master's class in marketing & AI there. What incredible opportunities there are for our profession! Think of tools like ChatGPT for writing texts and social media posts, DeepL for translations, and AI for generating ideas for campaigns and communication plans, for example.
These technologies not only reduce the cost of writing and translating texts, but also act as great sources of inspiration. And this is just the beginning. There are countless applications of AI, for example for image editing and voice-overs. All these innovations I can use for my clients. What an enrichment for our profession."
Question 6
Who (in or outside the floral industry) is an inspiring example to you? And Why?
"When I think about how I would like to shape marketing in the floriculture sector, Carin Frijters' platform Retail Theater comes to my mind. The platform provides an ideal format for marketing in the floriculture sector. I would like to create a similar place where everything comes together: master classes, information, advice, books, inspiration tours, Sierteelt Marketing Events, research/data, publications, and so on. A central platform for and by floriculture marketers."
Question 7
How do you handle stress or difficult moments in your life?
"In 2021, I was seriously ill with corona and even spent several days in intensive care. That was an intense experience that made me realise how important a good work-life balance is. Since then, I no longer work in the evenings and on weekends, and I try to take good care of my body by watching my food and exercising enough - sports. I also take enough rest by practicing yoga and meditation. Although this may sound woolly, I strongly believe in good cooperation between body and mind. This is essential for a fit and vital life.
This approach also helps me manage stress better and not ignore physical signals. Combining this with a busy and fun social life, a nice bonus family of 10 and an almost full-time job is of course a challenge, but I do my best."
Question 8
What has been the best (floral or non-floral) news for you lately, or of the last year?
"This is longer than a year ago, though, and that is the Covid period anyway. I had just started working for myself in 2018. As I wrote, I was very sick from it, so that took months of rehabilitation. And the year before that, I had almost no income for about three months due to the pandemic. Again, I came out of this strong(er). Because you always have a choice: whatever shit you go through, it's all about how you deal with it!"
Question 9
Which is your favorite flower/plant and why is it good for you?
"I don't have a favorite flower or plant: all flowers and plants are my favorite! Because for every moment, for every mood, for every occasion, for every garden, for every interior, for every taste, there is a matching flower or plant. So that applies to me too. And that's how I look at it."
Question 10
What are you doing this weekend?
"Last winter, we went on a skiing holiday with our whole ‘bonus’-family. This is something we find very special and valuable, and we hope to continue doing so for a long time to come. As a thank you for this holiday, our children, Arthur and I gifted an overnight stay in a castle with dinner in Belgium. This weekend we are going to that castle and we are going to enjoy it immensely."
All pictures courtesy of Caroline Nederpelt.
