Posted 1/24/2011

REAL MAD MEN OF THE SIXTIES :
LOVEBUNDLE GOES TO MARKET

The scene is Sam Santori's flower shop in the Union Carbide building on Park Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan. It's the big day when we launch our national ad campaign called "Give Your Girl a LoveBundle for Valentine's Week!" It's eight in the morning, and the New York Times will be breaking our full-page LoveBundle ad. Hopefully, the phones will start ringing soon.

Sam is nervously pacing the floor while his staff energetically goes about the assembly of LoveBundle bouquets. As the supply of bouquets mounts, Sam occasionally mumbles, "I hope we don't get stuck with the damn things."

All the while I am pretending to be calm. After all, I had persuaded 14,000 FTD florists to forego roses on Valentine's Day in favor of LoveBundle. If it sells, the florists make a fortune. But if it doesn't......

I am quietly and calmly staring at the phone, which is set on ‘speaker.'

Sam mutters, "The price is crazy. I can always lower it when they call in."

I continue to look calm and stare at the phone.

At 8:30, it rings. Everyone in the shop jumps. Including me.

Sam pushes the button. A big, booming voice comes on. We all jump again.

"Hello. I saw your ad in the Times and I wanna send my gal one of those LoveBundles you guys advertised!"

"Wonderful," Sam chokes out. "Now about the price......."

"Price? Price? Don't try to bullshit me on price. I saw the ad in the Times and I'm not gonna spend a penny more than what was in the ad. Jerk me around on price and I'll jump in a cab and come down there and bust you in the mouth!"

I quickly jump in. "Sir, the price is exactly what you saw in the ad. My assistant here was just trying to make sure you saw the price in the ad."

While Sam takes down the critical information, including the credit card number, we all breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm still worried about the price," Sam insists.

The phone rings. "I would like to send a LoveBundle to my mother and....."

"Now about the price....."

"Look here. If you try to pull a ‘bait and switch' on me, I'll report you to the Consumer Affairs Agency. I want to send the bouquet you had in the ad and I'm not going to pay a penny more."

The third caller really hammers Sam in harsh language when he tries to lower the price. Finally, he shrugs, grins and takes the phone off ‘speaker.'

"You folks start taking the calls the regular way. Don't try to lower the price."

"What are you going to do now?" I ask.

"Me, I'm going back into my office and start calling the marketing committee members to tell them what a big hit we have on our hands. And, oh yeah, I'm going to tell them not to try to lower the price."

The LoveBundle campaign ran just ten days. It was Huge, with a capital ‘H.' Compared with the previous year's Valentine's Day sales, we had a "double seventy." Oddly enough, unit sales increased 70 percent while the unit price increased 73 percent. Total dollar revenue was up almost 200 percent.

The florists got rich.

The customers got happy.

There were no complaints about the disappearance of the roses.

And we had nailed the FTD account forever.

I mean, for what constitutes "forever" in the ad business.

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