Every day, new stories appear on Thursd. Growers introduce new varieties, breeders share innovations, designers inspire with creative work, photography finds its way to the platform, art is introduced, and events from around the world reach readers across the floral industry. What many people never see is everything that happens before those stories go live.
Behind every published article is a carefully coordinated process. Topics are planned, partners are guided, deadlines are monitored, content is reviewed, images are checked, online visibility is optimized, and publications are scheduled so the right stories reach the right audience at the right moment.
One of the people making that happen is Marcel de Romph. This year marks six years since Marcel joined Thursd. During that time, he has become a steady part of the platform’s daily operations, ensuring ideas become articles and articles become valuable content for readers around the world.
This article is the first in the new People Behind Thursd series, where we introduce the people who help shape the platform behind the scenes.
A New Step in a Familiar Industry
Before Marcel joined Thursd, he had already seen many sides of floriculture. "I thought I had seen pretty much every aspect of the floriculture industry," he says. "I had worked in import and export, traded cut flowers, decorative greens, and plants, and worked for both large and small companies."
Then, at the end of 2019, he met Arnold Wittkamp, who told him about a new online magazine he had started. For Marcel, who comes from a marketing background, the idea immediately made sense. Not only because it was a new platform, but because Thursd focused on a group he had always considered essential: the florist.
"I had always felt that, as a sector, we should focus much more on the florist," Marcel explains. "To me, the florist is the most important decision-maker in our chain. The final decision-maker, even."
Most consumers walk into a flower shop looking for a nice bouquet. They usually do not enter with a specific wish for Lisianthus, Callas, Alstroemeria, or Gerberas. They look at what the florist has created for them. That is where Marcel sees the opportunity.
"When florists decide what the end consumer can buy in the shop, then that's your reason why they need to be totally informed about what's available. Florists crave this information."
So, when he heard about Thursd, he saw a chance to bring that idea to life in a completely new role.
When Everything Moved Online
Marcel had only just started when the world changed. "Two months after I started at Thursd, COVID-19 happened," he says. "That immediately changed the playing field." Almost overnight, everything moved online. Events were canceled, meetings became digital, and companies had to rethink how they stayed visible. For a platform like Thursd, that shift confirmed the value of strong online content. And while people were happy to meet each other offline again after the pandemic, the digital layer never disappeared.
"Of course, after COVID, everyone was happy to meet offline again. That is something people now value even more. But what happened online has not gone away."
Today, Thursd is not only approached by growers and breeders for content. The platform is also increasingly involved in events around the world, visiting trade fairs, expos, and industry gatherings to report on what is happening.
"We now travel all over the world to visit trade fairs, events, and expos and report on them," Marcel says. "This gives a wonderful dimension to my job too; traveling is not just work, it's also meeting cultures around the whole world.
Still, he also sees that the floral industry does not change that quickly as it should:
"We work in a fairly conservative sector. Many companies still think marketing is the same as social media, putting up a nice face on Insta, or that flowers simply sell themselves because they're so beautiful. And I think that is a pity. We still have a lot to explain."
Keeping the Editorial Engine Running
Publishing on a digital platform is much more than writing articles. Every week requires planning, communication with partners, coordination between editors, and balancing paid content with independent editorial stories. As Managing Editor, Marcel oversees much of that process. Right after the agreement with a new content partner is finalized, he keeps track of deadlines, reviews content, monitors quality, and ensures each article meets the editorial standards readers expect from Thursd.
Much of this work happens quietly behind the scenes. Yet it is exactly this structure that allows creativity to move forward. "We have at least three editorial meetings every week," Marcel says. "That can be quite a challenge because our editorial team is spread across the world. We have editors in Kenya, Ecuador, Italy, Belgium, India, and the Netherlands."
Those meetings are where the team discusses content for the current week, the coming week, and the short- and medium-term. Work is divided, articles are reviewed, and planning is adjusted. Every editor works with their own content partners, the paying clients for whom Thursd creates articles and other content. At the same time, the team keeps an eye on the platform's total balance.
"It is a continuous flow of planning, editing, checking whether articles are suitable for Thursd, and looking at images, text, SEO, and AIO," Marcel explains. "Only when an article is fully ready and approved is it published."
After that, the work continues. The article is placed in one of the categories on the homepage, added to the newsletter planning, and scheduled for social media. "It really is a team effort."
What Makes a Story Worth Publishing?
For Thursd, the starting point is always the reader. And more specifically, the florist. "As I said, Thursd mainly focuses on its tone of voice and visual approach to florists, the most important decision-makers in our chain," Marcel says. A good story is not only about a new variety, a beautiful design, or a company update. It has to offer something useful, inspiring, or relevant to the florist. "A story is worth publishing when a florist finds it interesting."
That perspective shapes how articles are written and edited. "We always write as if a florist is sitting next to us, looking along, and giving his or her approval."
For Marcel, a strong article needs good images, a product or idea that is worth showing, and a clear answer to a simple question: why would a florist care?
"Each marketer in the world knows what I mean when I talk about the 'Why-Question'. It's a fundamental question in marketing. Why would I want to buy this? Why would I want to create this design? If a story answers that, and if it makes the florist happy, it has an effect throughout the entire chain."
Where Creativity Meets Structure
Every successful team depends on people with different strengths. Within Thursd, ideas, editorial direction, visual storytelling, operational planning, customer communication, and publishing all come together every day. Marcel's strength lies in bringing calm, precision, and structure to that process.
"My role is that of Managing Editor," he says. "I keep an overview of the balance of the content. I make sure we fulfill our commitments to our content partners. I also guard the Thursd look and the Thursd way of writing."
That Thursd way of writing is not random. From the start, the platform developed its own editorial persona. It helps keep the platform recognizable, even though many different editors and writers contribute to it. Marcel looks ahead, anticipates what is needed, and keeps projects moving forward, even when several international partners, events, and publication schedules overlap. That reliability creates confidence within the team and among the companies that trust Thursd to tell their stories.
Communication Starts With the Audience
After many years in floriculture, Marcel has a clear message for companies seeking to communicate more effectively: Start with the audience.
"I would always first look at who you are doing it for," he says. "Who do you want to communicate with? Who is the target audience, the Persona?"
That sounds obvious, but in the floral chain, it is often forgotten or misunderstood. Many companies focus only on the next link in the chain. A breeder communicates with a grower. A grower communicates with a wholesaler. A wholesaler communicates with a florist. But according to Marcel, that view is too limited.
“The real target group may be much further down the chain," he says. "The floriculture chain is not only about push marketing. It is also about pull marketing. And that is sometimes overlooked."
In other words, if the florist understands, wants, and asks for something, the whole chain can start to move.
A Team to Be Proud Of
When asked about his proudest moment at Thursd, Marcel does not first mention numbers, events, or milestones. He mentions the team:
"What I am most proud of is the appreciation we show each other. We do that regularly. We often give each other sincere compliments."
For Marcel, that says a lot about how the team works. "It shows how happy we are with each other as a team and how much we value each other. That is what I am most proud of: that we have such a good team."
Over the years, he has learned what kind of work environment suits him:
“In 30+ years in floriculture, I have learned a lot. One thing I learned is that I do not want to be the monkey at the top of the rock. I look for harmony within a clear working framework, where everyone can still thrive, feel comfortable, and be creative, even when some content creation guidelines are quite strict."
Of course, there are also the visible achievements. Thursd now reaches around half a million readers every month. And the platform is present at more and more events worldwide.
"When I walk around at a trade fair, like recently in Bangkok at HortEx, I do feel proud," Marcel says. "I think: here I am on the other side of the world, representing Thursd. That really gives a boost."
If I Were a Flower...
Ask Marcel which flower best represents him, and he does not need much time:
"I think it would be an Amaryllis. This flower starts as quite a small bud. Very modest. It does not shout for attention. It stands on a strong, long stem, yes, but it is still quiet at first. Then you put it in water, let it open, and a really beautiful, large bloom appears, full of color and strength. As a person, I'm not someone who starts shouting from the rooftops, but just let me show what I can do. And I'm confident other people find that useful or beautiful."
Recharging Outside Work
Behind the planning, editing, and deadlines, there is also life outside Thursd. Marcel makes sure to create space for that, too:
“I really believe in a healthy mind in a healthy body," he says. “So I do a lot of sports, especially long-distance running. But I also make time to relax with reading a book, going to a concert or a movie, and taking a trip now and then. That gives me new energy and helps me stay sharp for my work."
Looking Ahead
What will the future bring for Thursd. Who is able to read tea leaves?
"Thursd is already the leading global floriculture magazine, even though we have only been around for seven years," he says. In ten years, he expects Thursd to still hold that position as a magazine, but with more connected platforms around it, offering a broader scope of services across the sector.
"One idea is a marketplace where supply and demand for floral projects come together: Growers and breeders can connect directly with florists and designers for media projects. We will not only need editors and floral connectors in other parts of the world, but also specialists in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). ChatGPT is the new Google, so we need to work on being found there as well."
Within that growth, Marcel de Romph sees his own role as connecting and controlling. It is a role that suits him well, especially as the editorial team around him continues to grow stronger: "Because I have a strong team of editors around me, my own role is becoming freer. I get more space to work on projects and keep the helicopter view, and that suits me very well. When we started out, we called ourselves "the Vogue of the floral industry," and that's still what I think we want to be."
Header and feature image are based on an AI-generated photo that was used in a workshop about Artificial Intelligence at Concept Factory in June 2026.
