Benary Do It BIG Magazine

For the last five years, Benary has been using their Blooms publication to promote and educate growers on one of their most beautiful and versatile plants, BIG^® Begonia. When the decision was made to actively engage as well as inform their growers, Benary came to BatesMeron eager to breathe new life into their brand and give BIG Begonia more appeal to a budding breed of action-oriented consumers.

 

 

As a company with over 170 years of experience producing the highest quality seed raised bedding ornamentals, Benary is no stranger to instructing growers all over the world on how to get the best out of their flowers. Recently however, Benary found that their instructional, catalogue-like approach to their publications had lost some of its flair with audiences, especially their younger members.

Benary’s goal was simple: revitalize their Blooms publication to engage and captivate the entire spectrum of consumer growers, while still providing all the information they’d need to care for BIG Begonias year-round. With such a beautiful product and a generous amount of creative freedom, encouraged by Benary’s North American Marketing Specialist Jen Calhoun, it was a project we were thrilled to be apart of.

In our initial creative meetings, our team brainstormed concepts that would emphasize BIG Begonia’s many uses, including a “Year of BIG Begonia” and holiday theme. Ultimately, these ideas led our team to the epiphany that, rather than simply showcasing the begonia’s versatility, we allow Benary’s savvy consumers to experience it themselves with a “Do It Yourself” motif. This concept, titled “Do it BIG,” received unanimous approval from both the BatesMeron and Benary teams.

Energized by our concept, the entire creative team scoured every resource we could find to collect the best DIY projects for BIG Begonia. Drawing inspiration from outlets like Pinterest, Real Simple and even the DIY queen Martha Stewart, we collected a diverse collection of simple projects to appeal to every kind of grower.

We didn’t stop there. The BatesMeron team became so involved in the DIY spirit that we created our researched projects in-house, and proceeded to arrange, photograph, write and design the stories around them with creative ingenuity.

 

 

The fruits (or flowers) of our labor were nothing short of amazing. With fun projects, engaging copy and stunning visuals forming a completely new version of Blooms, Benary and BIG Begonia were a smash-hit at the annual California Spring Trials (CAST). Their fresh twist on presenting BIG Begonia drew in and excited countless new consumers, while still managing to be helpful and informative. Since CAST, Benary has continued to use Blooms to promote the beautiful begonia variety—inspiring green lovers and growers across the country with the endless possibilities of BIG.

“When we went to BatesMeron, we knew that we didn’t want our typical trade leaflet. We wanted something different and exciting, with a strong consumer look and feel. After just one meeting with the BatesMeron team, they understood our concept and got to work,” said Jen Calhoun of her experience. “Not only were they able to produce exactly what we were looking for, they did it within our challenging budget and timeline. We are thrilled with the outcome and the publicity it has earned for our product.”