Back Page: Transforming the industry

One thing Anna Ball’s dad always said was that you have to be in the balcony and on the dance floor at the same time.

It may seem confusing, but as president and CEO of Ball Horticultural Co., it’s how she relates to the industry and one of the topics she spoke about at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, this past October.

“We need plants for a purpose and not just for beauty,” she says. “The industry hasn’t figured out how to translate this into sales and get it down to the dance floor.”

She showed several photos of buildings the world over that seem to be living, as plants cover them.

“The future buildings will be made of plants,” she says.

She also showed examples of living billboards as well as traveling gardens on bus roofs, which are also great ways to eliminate graffiti in urban areas.

Ball also discussed the need for more product blending.

“There’s a disconnect in how the industry thinks about things and how the consumer thinks,” she says.

The industry, she says, talks in categories, but the consumer talks more simply — in just plants.

Additionally, she said the industry needs to reduce shrink, and said it was the No. 1 way for it to become more sustainable.

One of Ball’s biggest points was that we have to simplify and localize our products. For example, instead of thinking of an independent garden center as such or even as a local garden center, look at it like a local center, similar to a farmer’s market approach. This approach could boost traffic and bring people in that may not come in to something people refer to as an independent garden center.

She also shared feedback one person gave when asked to click through a website. When they had to click to another page, that person said, “You lost me on the second click.” Ball sees great truth in this, and she tries to run her organization as a one-click company and wants to see the industry following suit.

“Gardening is a 30-click company,” she says. “We don’t want to oversimplify it but we need to simplify it. If we don’t become one-click, we’re toast.”

For more: Ball Horticultural Co., ballhort.com