Client meeting November 19th
Discover
Week 1 – Contextualizing the problem
About Treemore:
Vision: a future where sustainability is a way of life, fostering harmony between humans and nature
Mission: inspire through tree gifts and storytelling, reversing deforestation trends and promoting ecosystem restoration.
Offering: high-quality tree gifts combined with storytelling to encourage people to cherish nature and act as environmental stewards
Target audience: primarily B2B clients and resellers
Challenge
“How might we leverage the super sustainable nature of our gift trees in marketing and communication materials to:
Boost sales
Convince resellers to prioritize and promote these products
Develop metrics for measuring the success and impact of their approach
My role as a consultant
Key responsabilities:
Conduct desk research (literature on sustainability marketing, gift markets) and field research (interviewing experts of analyzing competitor strategies)
Collaborate closely with Treemore to explore feasible and impactful solutions
Provide evidence-based recommendations, including prototypes for marketing materials of sales strategies
Steps to contextualize the problem:
Define the current situation
Sustainability-focused products
Need for effective marketing to engage B2B clients and resellers
Importance of measuring the success of these efforts
Understand the problem context
Explore trends in eco-friendly products and sustainable marketing
Identify challenges in convincing resellers of product value
Consider metrics for impact evaluation (sales growth, customer engagement, environmental contributions)
Useful tools
SWOT analysis
Stakeholder analysis, understand the motivations and barriers for clients, resellers, and end-users
Empathy map, explore the emotional and practical needs of Treemore’s audience
STEEP analysis
Blind spot of knowledge and awareness
Preparation
Company background and organizational structure
Visions/mission: sustainable world where human and nature thrive together, inspire people through high-quality tree gifts fostering love for trees.
Core activities:
Selling tree gifts as sustainable presents
Partnering with organizations for land restoration projects
Promoting biodiversity and ecosystem resilience
Organizational structure, small team focusing on marketing, product development, and partnerships
Ecosystem
Collaborations, works with sustainability focused brands and organizations like Trees for All and Justdiggit.
Products, eco-friendly and nearly fossil-free, including biodegradable packaging and sustainable delivery methods (electric cars)
Market focus, sustainability, B2B and reseller channels, with a growing presence in the B2C market via Bloompost.nl, Plantje.nl, Plantura.shop or Blume2000.de.
Opportunities
Strong sustainability trend in consumer behaviour
B2B gifting market looking for unique and sustainable options
Leveraging storytelling to build emotional connections with the audience
Struggles
Convincing resellers to prioritize tree gifts over traditional options like flowers
Limited resources for expanding online presence and improving website functionality
Balancing profitability with sustainability goals
Context of the challenge
Question: “How can Treemore effectively market its sustainable tree gifts to increase sales, engage resellers, and measure success?”
Goals:
Create compelling marketing materials showcasing the product’s sustainability and emotional value
Establish metrics for success, such as increased sales and improved reseller relationships
Target audience
Primary: B2B clients (corporate gifting, resellers)
Secondary: Environmentally conscious B2C customers through platforms like Bloompost.nl, Plantje.nl, Plantura.shop or Blume2000.de.
Possible data sources/ access to data
Internal: sales data, customer feedback, current marketing campaign results, reseller performance, engagement reports
External: competitor analysis in eco-gifting market, market research reports on sustainability trends, insights form environmental organizations
Thoughts and ideas
Use storytelling to highlight the product’s unique selling point (letterbox trees)
Create reseller-specific campaigns with co-branding opportunities
Growingpaper.nl -> “can’t wait? Order a mini tree”
Enhance online presence with a user-friendly website and engaging content
Communication and tools I would like to use
Use Microsoft Teams for regular updates
Shared Drive for collaborative tools and resources
Regular meetings (weekly check-ins through Zoom or Teams
Financial budget
Marketing budget 2024: 40k
Social media advertising 6k, content creating 12k, SEO 7k
Blog posts are free, also upload on instagram
Potential scope for solutions
Explore affordable website updates or optimization
Low-cost influencer marketing campaigns, find influencers who are most likely to post out of enthusiasm and not for the money
Small-scale restoration projects with visible storytelling impact
Boundaries
Solutions should be scalable withing the 40k marketing budget
Send influencers free gifts, graduation gift, birthday, new home, etc.
Focus on strategies that align with Treemore’s sustainability ethos and target audience
Contact
info@treemore.eu
Managing director Maarten van den Berg
Stakeholders Map:
AS A TABLE:
Stakeholder Map for Treemore
Stakeholder
Importance Level
Role
Reasoning
B2B Clients and Resellers
Key
Revenue source, market distributors
They are the main buyers and sellers of Treemore’s products, which affects sales and growth.
Treemore Team
Key
Strategy execution, alignment with goals
They handle daily operations and ensure the company’s plans and vision are implemented effectively.
Suppliers (Seedlings, Packaging, etc.)
Key
Provide essential materials for Treemore’s products
Their sustainability practices and reliability directly impact the quality and eco-friendliness of Treemore’s offerings.
Parent Company (E_Flora)
Key
Operational oversight, resource allocation
Provides support and ensures Treemore aligns with the larger company’s goals.
Parent Conglomerate (Dutch Flower Group)
Key
Strategic alignment, market influence
Helps Treemore benefit from the group’s size, market position, and shared resources.
End Consumers
Important
Indirect demand driver
Their preference for sustainable gifts encourages B2B clients to stock more products.
Sustainability Partners
Important
Credibility and implementation support
They boost Treemore’s reputation and help it achieve its environmental goals.
Influencers and Social Media Advocates
Important
Visibility, engagement amplifier
They promote Treemore’s products to a wider audience, increasing awareness.
Environmental Organizations
Interesting
Insights and collaboration opportunities
They offer advice and can work with Treemore on environmental projects.
Policy Makers and Regulators
Interesting
Governance and compliance
They set rules and policies that can affect Treemore’s business and sustainability practices.
Local Communities
Interesting
Direct beneficiaries of reforestation projects
They help spread Treemore’s message and increase visibility through their networks.
MEETING PREPERATION
Social Media:
Did u do influencer marketing in Linked in? If yes, how did that work out?
No- they dont work with them anymore
Lead generation / none
Are you in contact with marketing agencies? ->
Media tach -> PR Agancy/ UNclear future, it might eb cancelet next year
Not too much interaction there
What strategies already worked and what did not?
DPP – can u add that?
PIntrest worked really well/reach on pintrest was way higher then IG
Sales/marketing:
What is the primary way selling the products? Do you do sales, or do you use marketing activities for this?
Eflora biggest one, 60% through eflora. Giftnation, abn big contract 400-500 trees a week. Green giving, Plato, no payed advertisement themselves,
How do you now target your customers?
linkdin, newsletter, Instagram and website, how to target them better and more, finding big cooperates, welcoming gift. Emailing for collaborations, universities, propose product as an alternative, very little responds, also approached hospital, got into shop of Prorail
why did you choose to focus on b2b mostly?
B2C you need a lot of communication and support, as a start-up no money to set up a team like that, send a tree is off the table
What feedback have you received from resellers regarding promoting gift trees?
Plato France, as many products in the store
Bol.com and amazon did not work out financially also because of the time spend on customer service
Supermarkets could be a great opportunity, not tried yet, BUT challenge to get new pots because the company who made them got bank robbed, looking for new supplier for high quality pots, they also want to grow them in the tray form so repotting them will go very fast
The company is looking for new collaborations like Dille & Camille, Søstene Grene, Holland and Barrett, WAAR
Stick to the design because it is unique
Are there opportunities for collaborations with brands that align with your mission?
Find new one specially abroad, dream collaborations are with greats, fleurop, bloomon, bloom & wild the ‘greener’ alternative of flowers
There is already contact with these companies
They stood out at gezond & welzijn
Price is also a struggle, need to grow the value
Possibility: reward structures for customers
Trees for all was the best campaign and still is
Logistics:
What is the preferred way of communicating?
Is there room for semi regular meetings?
Would you prefer online meetings or physical ones?
Company info:
What is the role of eflora now? Are they purely investing or do they have a say in strategy etc.
–> they will take over and no one from tree more will stay after the new year so treemore will be fully integrated into eflora
Will the role of eflora change in the coming future?
How do you approach current and future customers?
What is your biggest competitor?
–> the design is protected, geef een boompje is a dircet compettitor they just cant send it through the letterbox. Some competitors sell cutlings but never in a pot when they send them through the letterbox.
Product
What are the result you want but are currently struggling to achieve?
–> want to grow in terms of volumes when focussing on the mission. The biggest challenge is to getting into these big volumes and grow there
Another challenge is also communicating the story and be able to messure, rather grow in terms of impact rather than the story.
Are the struggles in sending smaller batches of product? *
Not financially feasible
What kind of collaborations do you already have and what does that collaboration look like?
–> combi product with a coffeebrand which was not super succesful, they also collaborated with milka were the tree was a gift if you purchase multiple milka products.
Is there a particular struggle you are facing when looking at b2b selling?
–>
What makess your product more sustainable than other?
–> the pod is compostable incl cap, recycleable cardboard, transport from nursery to here is electric, nursery has a social mission. Everything except the olive is from netherlands. But also, the cards are made from flower waste that is turned into paper including biodegradeble ink.
About 5/6 specicies are being grown organic in terms of volume it’s about 5%
2 organic tree nurseries in NL
Sustainability:
What makes your product sustainable and how do you prove that to the consumers?
–> no certificets on the plants but they have the lifecycle analysis, they communicate what they do but they don’t have the “proof”. The plant pasports are being checked and are included in the booklet.
Do you have any more collaborations regarding sustainability besides just dig it and trees for all?
What does sustainability mean to you as a company?
Meeting notes:
– Fair hope graphics map
Hope and resilience
International, UN decade on restoration (2021-2030), Paris climate agreement, energy transition
Local action, planatary health diet, sustainable transport, sustainable consumption
Only 12% forest in the NL, this was 2%
Green gold documentary as an inspiration (the green wall project)
The contribution of Treemore
Sustainable gifts; biobased, compostable, zero emission transport, 100+ product life?
Benefits; symbolic, healthy, education, contribution to land restoration
How many plants survive? (add QR with email to keep updates on the life of the tree)
Having plants/trees is good for mental health but also physical health because of are quality
Q: Which metrics are you tracking right now?
–> sales nubmers, followers engagement, not really website
Q: How would you say you are leveraging the sustainable nature of the product in marketing and communication materials right now?
What is your relationship with digital and printed media?
What media publications do you already have?
What does the mediatic mean? Mediatic does pr, info article
Q: Can we have the files for the booklets that you deliver with the trees?
Q: Who are your suppliers and what are their stories? Can we have more info on them?
Q: What is the reason you’re not selling through collaborator’s sales channels?
–>
Q: On the collaboration with Trees for all, do they plant a tree for every tree sold by you? Or only for the specific trees you mention on the website?
Q: The Christmas edition trees, are they in collaboration with another company or do you create this yourself? –> they create this themselves
