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For Immediate Release
Name: Maria Zampini
Company:UpShoot™ LLC
Address: 5010 South Ridge RdMadison, OH 44057
Cell:440.812.3249
Fax:440.357.7676
Email:maria@upshoothort.com
Blog:The CoHort Zone
Website:www.upshoothort.com
Extend Your Season and Grow New Gardeners with Story Trails & Scavenger Hunts from Evergreen Creations
Year-round “edutainment” for the whole family
July 2018 — Garden centers are looking for ways to increase revenue beyond spring without constantly reinventing the wheel and families are looking for experiences they’ll treasure and new traditions to enjoy each year.
Family-friendly offerings from Evergreen Creations take a three-pronged approach to helping increase revenue while offering memorable activities to families:
- On-site activities (story trails, scavenger hunts, photo ops) to draw kids in and create fun/educational experiences.
- Retail items (books, plush toys, and so forth) that complement the on-site experiences and generate incremental revenue.
- Giveaways and take home items (the activity packets) to increase customer satisfaction and strengthen customers’ connection to the establishment.
Like every good story, you have to start at the beginning to get the whole picture. Every October, Spookley the Square Pumpkin airs on the Disney Channel, telling the story of Spookley, the pumpkin who’s a bit different from the others in the pumpkin patch. The other pumpkins pick on him because he’s square, not round, until, one night, disaster strikes and Spookley’s specific shape is the only thing that saves the other pumpkins from certain demise. (You have to watch the movie or read the book to find out exactly how Spookley saves the day.)
“We love including Spookley in our fall events at Greenscape Gardens. We set up photo spots for the whole family to create a lasting memory during their visits. The kids enjoy spotting a familiar ‘face’ at the garden center, and parents are pleased with the learning opportunities provided by the materials from Evergreen Creations. Working with them is a win for everyone!”
– Jennifer from Greenscape Gardens in St. Louis
Children expect and look forward to seeing Spookley on TV as much as adults have a fondness for Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. Imagine the delight of kids (and their parents) when they arrive at the garden center and see a larger-than-life Spookley waiting for them. Or a place they can take pictures with Spookley and friends. They’ll be captivated as they enjoy a scavenger hunt and story trail with their favorite characters.
Spookley serves annually as the “Official Spokes-Pumpkin” for National Bullying Prevention Month (October). Evergreen Creations, the company handling “agritainment” licensing for Spookley, offers an online toolkit, signage, and marketing collateral focused around this message along with retail items and take-home giveaways for customers to stay connected after enjoying their onsite visit. What Evergreen Creation really offers, though, is easy-to-implement fun. Spookley lives at “Holiday Hill Farm,” where every day is a holiday. A series of related books ensure that out of the box family-friendly educational and environmental messages and merchandise are available for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Independence Day, in addition to Spookley at Halloween. “Evergreen Creations provides garden centers with content to attract, educate, and entertain young visitors, all while helping them increase their bottom line,” says Aaron Burakoff, founder of Evergreen Creations.
Growing New Gardeners
Connecting with new audiences is easier and more effective when you can use a story or subject they’re already familiar with. That’s the beauty of fall programming built around Spookley—kids and families already know about him.Aaron says, “We are passionate about helping kids connect with agriculture, so we provide tools for Garden Centers to achieve that in a fun and meaningful way.” “Fairy Tale Trail™” Story Trails and Activity Packets are two other immensely popular plug-and-play programs available along with the stories and merchandise based on Spookley and his friends from Holiday Hill Farm.
“Fairy Tale Trail” Story Trails
Take your familiar fairy tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast, or even Cinderella, add an agricultural twist, and you have a perfect attraction to entertain families in spring, summer, or fall. In Beauty and the Bees, we learn about the vital role that bees play on the farm and prove that sweetness can “bee” found anywhere. Jack’s a-maize-ing adventures in Jack and the Cornstalk introduce us to corn-based treats, corn mazes, and the importance of hard work.
Field Trip Fun
Activity packets and scavenger hunts are two additional ways ways to keep kids engaged and involved during and after their visit to the garden center. Evergreen Creations currently offers activity packets to entertain and educate about:
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Corn
- Pumpkins
- Strawberries
- Coming soon: Christmas Trees & Sunflowers
Pumpkin and apple themed scavenger hunts are family-friendly games perfect for visiting school groups interested in learning about plant varieties as well as fall festival attendees.
There’s still time to implement fall programs!
Contact Aaron Burakoff at aaron@evergreencreationsllc.com for more information about getting started.About Evergreen CreationsEvergreen Creations creates and distributes “edutainment” content that is featured at family-friendly agritourism farms, farmers’ markets, and garden centers worldwide in field trip programs, retail markets, and on-farm fun.
About Evergreen Creations
Evergreen Creations creates and distributes “edutainment” content that is featured at family-friendly agritourism farms, farmers’ markets, and garden centers worldwide in field trip programs, retail markets, and on-farm fun.
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About UpShoot
UpShoot, LLC is a boutique horticulture marketing firm specializing in the sales, licensing and marketing of new plant introductions to North America, Canada, Europe and Australia. UpShoot also provides marketing services for gardening related products to both the trade and consumer audiences. For more information, contact Maria Zampini, President at 440-812-3249 or maria@upshoothort.com.]]>