Say it with a Cactus
Netflorist
Issue 51 | June 2019
Agency
HelloFCB+
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Mike Barnwell Executive Creative Director Camilla Clerke
Production Team
Animation Matthew Stephen, Maxine Murray Copywriters Chane Keyser, Toni-Lee Cheiman Designer Matthew Crisp Animation Post
Other Credits
Account Managers Lesley-Anne van der Nest, Alexandra Forrester Strategy Mike Barnwell, Camilla Clerke Project Manager Robyn Silverstone
Date
2018
Background
Nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like flowers. But flowers need water. And sending flowers during Cape Town’s worst drought in 100 years was kind-of insensitive. As citizens were limited to just 50 litres of water per day, Netflorist, South Africa’s biggest online florist, had to act fast because as the Cape was drying up, so was business.
Idea
Instead of telling people to say it with flowers, Netflorist told them to say it, with a cactus. But after years of tradition, people needed convincing. So, for every cactus sent, R10 was donated to the National Drought Relief Fund. And South Africans embraced it.
Results
Soon, people everywhere were sending cacti for all sorts of occasions and the cactus had become a new symbol for love and care. While business could have withered away in the drought, sales spiked by 46%. More to the point, hundreds of thousands of Rands were donated to the Drought Relief Fund.
Our Thoughts
In the whole of last year’s collection of award-winners at Cannes, there were precious few ideas that were funny. Humour is a potent force in advertising. Laugh and there’s an immediate dopamine hit in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. And that’s good because that’s how brands get people to notice and respond to them. And, simply, to like them. You can’t help but like Netflorist a lot – not just for the smile but for trying to help in the crisis. My bet is that even when the rain does fall, Netflorist’s sales will not shrivel.