Why marketing is like botany....

Botany is the study of plants. What's the link?

I think flowering plants are master marketers.... You can learn a lot by looking at how flowering plants survive, in many ways very much like a small business!

For example, one thing every flowering plant needs is to spread its pollen to other plants - and also to receive pollen too. Most plants can't do this alone.... They need others to spread the pollen for them.

A business-person can't survive by himself or herself. He or she needs customers.

The "customers" of flowering plants are insects. Plants need them to spread the pollen from flower to flower....

But they won't do it for nothing. They need something in return. That's why flowering plants generally give insects a "good deal". To entice them close by, flowers offer nectar - delicious food for many insects like butterflies and bees.

In return, these insects fly from flower to flower - spreading pollen with them.

It's completely win-win! It's just like a good business....

The flowering plants give something to their "customers", and butterflies and bees give something in return too, by spreading a flower's pollen to other plants.

You know of the AIDA formula for advertising? It stands for "Attention, Interest, Desire, Action".

Why do flowers look so stunningly beautiful, with their shapes and colors? You're right - it's A - Attention! They are purposely grabbing the attention of the insects, STEP ONE in any marketing process. (And while they are doing this, they inadvertently attract people's attention too! The flower industry is HUGE.)

So to summarize, flowers ADVERTISE by getting attention, with their beautiful shapes and colors. They provide a good "product" - nectar - that many insects want. In return, these insects "pay" the flowers back by flitting from flower to flower, spreading their pollen to help the plants reproduce. It is a truly WIN-WIN situation - just like any good business and their customers!

Like a flower, a good business will provide something valuable to their customers. They will get ATTENTION, either through advertising or by generating free publicity. And of course, customers give something back too (usually monetary payment). It's always WIN-WIN, so that both the business-person AND his or her customers are better off than they were before.

The template for a successful business can be found in the natural world....

But there is a dark side to this story too....

Some flowers have parts which imitate the look of another insect. They lure insects who try to mate with the imitation-insect, and spread their pollen that way. They give nothing in return. That is, they get pollinated by "cheating" the insects.

These plants are the "con artists" of the flowering plant world - yes, they exist too!

It's amazing sometimes what you can find by studying the world around you....

Nature has many interesting lessons for us. :)

- Dien Rice