Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/129601
ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance was named the winner in the contractor category of the 2012 Smart Marketing Contest thanks to building an effort around educating as many audiences as possible, according to Richard Restuccia,ValleyCrest's director of water management solutions. "Education was key; first and foremost, we wanted to ensure that we educated lawmakers," he said. "As an industry, we have to make sure we take control of the water situation right now in the United States. If we don't, we may see legislation created that we might not be happy with." Building on that foundation, Restuccia described other education efforts, including taking the Smart Irrigation Month message directly to customers and letting them spread the positive impact of water-use efficiency on ValleyCrest's behalf. "We deal with a lot of property management companies and they have multiple customers whom we don't necessarily deal with," he said. "We tried to create a message that our customers could easily spread to their customers, trying to broaden the reach of Smart Irrigation Month." Social media was another important focus, with the ValleyCrest Twitter page hosting #landscapechat, featuring discussions on water management, sustainability, and the latest tips, trends, and innovations in the green industry. Restuccia reported that a chat commemorating Smart Irrigation Month reached 221,000 followers with more than 882,000 impressions — allowing ValleyCrest to broadcast the Smart Irrigation Month message to a large audience in a short period of time. Restuccia went on to describe the tangible benefits of entering in the context of ValleyCrest's first win in the 2010 Smart Marketing Contest. "One of the first benefits we saw, and maybe the most important, was actual water savings," he said. "The next thing we noticed was that our customer satisfaction scores were going up — naturally, when we're saving our customers water, we're also saving them money." In addition to saving customers water and dollars, Restuccia described Smart Irrigation Month as an opportunity for the irrigation industry to lead the way for overall water conservation efforts. "We know we're doing good things and people are taking pride in that work," he said. "At the same time, our customers are excited because we can do a return on investment analysis and show them how much water they've saved and how much money they've saved." CPS Distributors, Inc. Lowell Kaufhold, president of CPS Distributors, Inc., described his company's 2012 distributor win as starting simple and growing to become larger and more important than just the contest. www.landscapeirrigation.com "We were very intrigued by the contest," he said. "Since we entered, and eventually won, it's turned out to be more to us than just a contest. It helps provide us with greater purpose. "It's been very beneficial for CPS. Obviously increasing your sales of Smart irrigation products is a no-brainer," he continued. "The perception as being a market leader — being out front and recognized by your peers and customers is important. These days, it's all about market share, and a great way to increase your market share is to participate in Smart Irrigation Month." Efforts by CPS included internal promotion with the "Get Smart/Water Smart" campaign to raise employee awareness of Smart Irrigation Month, as well as using IA resources such as the Smart Irrigation Month website and producing in-house materials such as contractor aids and point-of-purchase displays that highlighted Smart irrigation products. Kaufhold noted that CPS started small, using the Smart Irrigation Month logo on emails, statements and invoices, describing it as "a very easy and inexpensive way to get that message out." Events also drove much of the CPS promotion, and ran from the specific (irrigation consultant events to discuss Smart irrigation practices) to the delicious ("Counter Days" barbeque events with local contractors). Merging the Smart Irrigation Month promotion into nearly everything it did, CPS was able to broadcast the initiative — and, thus, the importance of Smart irrigation — to a wide audience. And it doesn't get much wider than the entire state of Colorado. "We were able to work with our governor to have July recognized as Smart Irrigation Month in the state of Colorado for 2012," said Kaufhold. "That provided a very big springboard for us to reach out to the water agencies and different associations within Colorado to let them know that the state was recognizing this as an important initiative." Kaufhold remarked on the excitement at CPS in entering the 2013 contest, noting that they've received a second consecutive proclamation from the governor of Colorado recognizing July as Smart Irrigation Month. He also talked about how it has become integrated into their overall efforts, and what it means to his business. "It helps people realize that there's more to this than just selling sprinklers." Kaufhold said. "We can educate our customer base on better ways to irrigate, and how to be smarter about how they do their jobs every day; and we can become part of the solution when it comes to promoting water-efficient products and techniques." The Toro Company The Toro Company, winner of the manufacturer category for the second consecutive year, approached the 2012 Smart Marketing Contest with four key constituencies in mind: contractors, distributors, end-users and water agencies/purveyors, according to Mike Landscape and Irrigation 13