Wholesale/Dealer, Gold Award: Jackson & Perkins, Roses for 2001

Everything’s coming up roses for Jackson & Perkins. The roses purveyor extraordinaire has reclaimed the Gold Award in the wholesale/dealer category. Just one look at the catalog’s striking cover — a heady shot of glistening red, yellow, pink, and peach roses — and it’s evident why this book from Bear Creek Corp. won the top prize.

The merchandise array and product presentation is simply “glorious,” remarked one judge. New roses this year include Marmalade Skies (tangerine-orange blooms), Our Lady of Guadalupe (silvery pink blossoms named for the patroness of the Americas), and Miss Behavin’ (deep-pink petals with a yellow reverse). Other new products include English tree roses and rose plants available in Jackson & Perkins-branded containers. And in a unique merchandising strategy, the company is for the first time offering its Redi-plant roses in themed collections, such as “Rose of the Year Favorites” and “Fragrant Landscape.” These collections are supported by free point-of-purchase merchandise materials.

The design and production values in this catalog are, in a word, “superb,” according to at least one judge. It may seem deceptively easy to make stunning roses look good in print, but Jackson & Perkins also has to pack in a lot of product information to appeal to and educate its audience of dealers and retailers. “The design is thoughtfully planned out to use the photos to break up the dense copy,” said another judge. A third panelist pointed out that the use of icons and tabs keeps the book flowing and organized.

Copy is well written, benefit-oriented, and descriptive. Take the description for the Tropical Sunset New Zealand hybrid tea rose: “Fanciful yellow blooms are striking, striped with orange that’s bright in the new flower, then softens to a delightful pink shade at finish. The bush grows vigorously, and produces numerous blossoms framed by semi-glossy foliage.” Great headlines and flower names such as “Sultry” grab attention, said a judge.

The institutional copy does a good job explaining how new roses are developed and why Jackson & Perkins’s select-stock roses are virus-free. The editorial also keeps in mind the mission of the cataloger’s customers: selling roses to consumers. One headline introducing container roses proclaims, “Container gardening gaining in popularity…Cash in on the trend — boost both sales and profits.”

The combination of the exceptional creative, the comprehensive merchandising selection, and the informative, appropriate copy — not to mention the value-added selling ideas for dealers — makes Jackson & Perkins a true winner. As one judge said, “This does appear to be the industry bible.”

Jackson & Perkins
Bear Creek Corp.
2518 South Pacific Hwy.
Medford, OR 97501
541-864-2018

www.jproses.com
Company founded: 1872
Catalog founded: 1997
Director: Estin B. Kiger
Designer: Joyce Tonkin
Art director: Daena Tougher
Copywriters: Mary Pat Ronemus,
Jim Gault
Photographer: Dave Bjurstrom
Marketing manager: Paula Rissler
Printer: Graphic Art Center
Color separator: Color Control
Cover paper: 100 lb.
Text paper: 70 lb.
Number of pages: 68
Trim size: 8-1/2″ × 11″