TOCA Talk – Summer 2022
TOCA Talk is proudly sponsored by EnP. EnP has been Engineering Optimal Plant Health™ for nearly 30 years, manufacturing specialty fertilizers under two brands: Foliar-Pak, and Age Old Nutrients. Because EnP professionals believe that collaboration and the exchange of ideas are essential for innovation, they are proud to support the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA).
Thank you, members of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association, for supporting this industry through your information, education, and outreach.
President’s Message – Hooked on a feeling
By Mark LaFleur, TOCA President
Anger. Sadness. Frustration. These are just a few of the emotions I had back in high school when I watched Menace II Society. Someone asked me if I liked the movie. Initially, I really hated it. Weeks went by and I was still shaken by the movie. Finally, it hit me, the whole point of the movie was to make me feel the dissonance from where I came from versus those who were born in a different environment. I came to realize the fact that it was jarring. It hit me at my core and that’s what made it a good movie. It started to make me curious. I began exploring how we are all shaped differently based on our environment, our families and our friends.
So, you may ask yourself, “What does this have to do with TOCA?” Recently, I read an article in Forbes that mentioned, “For some products and services, all the consumer might need to be informed of is the functional benefits.” Unless you have a monopoly on an essential product, I disagree. I get that an Apple loyalist may want to buy whatever Apple comes out with, but they built that over time. Their communications and brand identity evoke emotions of feeling smart, trendy and energetic. I feel energized by the music they use, their clean designs and stunning visuals. They have built our confidence in what we can create with their products in our hands.
Y‘all know me. Know how I earn a livin‘ (sorry, I love the movie Jaws). I have spent 14-plus years selling products that control insects, weeds and turf diseases. With a lot of great products in our industry, we really need to prove that our products work and work well the first time. Do we work to sell the functional benefits? Of course, we do. Is that enough? Of course, it’s not.
As turf and ornamental communicators, we should not only build our customers’ confidence in our products, but strive to connect with them and build their confidence in themselves. We must let them know turf and ornamental brands stand behind them no matter their gender, their socioeconomic background or their ethnicity. We need to go beyond the bar charts and tap into their emotions.
How each brand achieves this will be different based on their identity. Some will make them laugh (I cracked up at PBI Gordon’s “Pythed off” ad). Some are committed to letting their customers (or potential customers) know that they belong (Syngenta, Pure Seed, Pioneer Athletics, Rain Bird and Bayer, to name a few, have focused on elevating #WomenInTurf). GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) made sure its members know we all care about them as individuals with a simple thank you (#ThankaSuper).
A public relations professional overseeing Brand Strategy wrote in a different Forbes article, “When our team brings emotional marketing to the table, 80% of our clients seem to doubt the strategy – until we deliver results.” I encourage you to be part of the 20% that believes in an emotional approach. Just because Menace II Society initially pushed me outside of my comfort level, doesn’t mean it wasn’t an important message for me to hear.
Join us for Happy Hour at Elevate!
Sunday, September 18
4:30 – 6:00 p.m. ET
Room: St. George #108
Orlando, Florida
Happy Hour sponsored by John Deere
Open to all green industry communicators! All attendees will be entered to win some awesome John Deere swag!!
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
6000 West Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, FL 34746
Let us know you’re coming and who you’re bringing… we’ll grow TOCA together!
TOCA webinar features “Together We Must Work”
In the inaugural webinar of the Germinate TOCA Webinar Series, Guy Cipriano gave a presentation about how editors, writers and public relations pros can work together to benefit their stakeholders. Cipriano drew from his experience as editor-in-chief at Golf Course Industry magazine to share common mistakes and best practices for both sides of media relations.
If you couldn’t make the webinar live or just want to rewatch it, check out the recording here.
Level Up
Gardner Award for Cover Page Design – Printed Magazines
By Jill Odom, National Association of Landscape Professionals
Please describe the project.
This submission was the cover for the September/October issue of The Landscape Professional magazine. The cover story was about how companies were stepping up their game, so I decided it would be cool to lean into the game aspect and the title “Level Up” with an 8-bit illustration. I shared my concept with our freelance designer, Rob Ghosh, and he brought it to life.
What were your main objectives in developing this project?
I wanted a cover that was different and interesting to complement the Level Up theme. Being limited to stock photography, it would have been easy to select arrows or something growing, but I felt like those ideas were unimaginative. I like to look at our previous magazine covers to make sure we’re not creating designs similar to those we’ve done in the past. I think this cover is eye catching, creative and fun. We took this issue to GIE+EXPO last year and lots of people took a copy with them.
What influenced your approach?
With our magazine, we try to avoid having people, even stock models, on the covers, so this creates a unique challenge for every issue. I collaborate with Rob to come up with imagery that captures the cover story’s focus, without featuring individuals in the design. Being a gamer in my free time, I couldn’t help but think of video-game-related references for the Level Up theme, so I asked Rob to create a cover with this in mind. I sent him some different images of 8-bit art I’d found on Adobe Stock, so he knew what I was picturing. I’m a fan of 8-bit graphics like you’d find in the game Stardew Valley, so I was thrilled when he presented the final cover to me.
What do you think stood out in your winning entry?
I think this issue stood out because so many industry magazine covers are typically a company owner posed with their team and/or trucks. Our concept is a bit more whimsical and it catches your eye. Even people who aren’t gamers are familiar with the idea of leveling up; and every business owner is looking for ways to take their company to the next level. I think the cover also triggered nostalgia for some who might have grown up on 8-bit graphics like those used to create the classic game “The Oregon Trail.” Overall, it’s just a little outside of the box and tempts people to look beyond the cover.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Gardner Award Best Design Publication
By Tim Moat, design and production editor, Turf Matters, UK
Tim Moat explains the background to the Gardner Award win for Best Design Publication in 2022.
“Light at the end of the tunnel” summed up the industry’s – and the world’s – optimism that the paralysis of COVID-19 was perhaps starting to fade.
The expression was used by Scott MacCallum, Turf Matters’ highly regarded editor, in his introduction to the magazine feature, which asked leading industry figures their thoughts on early signs that the pandemic was getting under control.
It had been, of course, an incredibly tough time for everyone and we had followed the effects the virus had on every aspect of our lives, particularly in our industry, since the very beginning. We won a TOCA Gardner Award for that with our spread “Then suddenly everything changed (forever?).”
As important as niche magazines are – and I think they are very important – it tends to be only the biggest non-industry stories that make our pages. And rightly so, specialist magazines have nothing like the mainstream media’s resources to fully get under the skin of a big story. We can only look on through the prism of our particular perspective. We reflect what we see so that in the future we can look back on how our industry tackled the worst public health crisis in a generation.
From my designer/sub-editor’s viewpoint, the thought process for this feature was the same as any other, really: how to create a compelling feature from a mass of gray words that will make people want to stop to read.
Photos are usually key and the more striking, and the fewer of them, the better. A single shot used across a double-page spread can have the wow factor like nothing else. Add a thoughtful headline, and the job is done.
“Light at the end of the tunnel” cried out for a literal representation, I felt, and a stock library obliged with the moody photo used on the cover and the inside spread, but with a different headline. In Photoshop, I added a close-up of the virus itself, swirling around, to complete the effect.
As with every story, visual metaphors can help explain (a picture being worth a thousand words and all that), but you have to be careful the nuance is correct. Get the aim slightly off and you can confuse more than you clarify.
I’ve been working on industry magazines such as Turf Matters since the beginning of the millennium – starting with BIGGA’s Greenkeeper International – and there’s a limited range of strictly industry-specific photographs to go at. Opt for stock images or other pictures from left of field sources, and suddenly your palette grows significantly.
E-Z-GO Liberty Pre-order Digital Ad
Gardner Award Best Digital Media – Digital Design
By Katie Sands, account director, Swanson Russell
Please describe your winning project.
E-Z-GO has been a category leader in the golf cart space for decades. It was first-to-market with game-changing technologies, such as AC electric and lithium drivetrains. Recently, it expanded its focus from the golf course to consumer vehicles that appealed to families looking for an enjoyable way to get around the neighborhood.
Its newest vehicle – the Liberty – promised to be the highest-end offering for that consumer market to date. It combined the most advanced, efficient technology with another industry first – four forward-facing seats. This allowed for greater comfort and maneuverability, all while taking style to the next level. E-Z-GO asked for Swanson Russell’s help in launching the new product, with a heavy focus on digital advertising.
What were your main objectives in developing this project?
We needed to create initial awareness of the Liberty and ultimately drive leads for E-Z-GO dealers.
What influenced your approach?
Our concept centered on the theme of “Charging Forward.” This line served us on a few levels. It spoke to the innovative nature of the product overall and the fact that E-Z-GO is always a step ahead of the competition. It gave a nod to the powerful lithium technology powering the vehicle. And it underscored the four forward-facing seats – a key differentiator for the product.
What do you think stood out in your winning entry?
The combination of a theme that spoke volumes about the product in just a few words, along with a high-end design that helped convey the innovative nature of the product in a space where differentiation can be tough to demonstrate, made for an incredibly powerful campaign. And the results showed that the campaign delivered, with strong media performance that ultimately helped them exceed their sales goals.
New RYAN Website
Gardner Award – Websites
By Scott Covelli and Zak Becker, EPIC Creative
Please describe your winning project.
EPIC Creative and RYAN worked together to overhaul the RYAN digital web presence. The refresh brought the current site up to date – incorporating new brand positioning, responsive UX design, improved content flow and a renewed focus on video assets throughout the site. The update also provided an opportunity to enhance product content, photography and other assets. Additionally, we updated the contact and product information request forms to make them easier to use, better able to capture consumer feedback and gather leads.
What were your main objectives in developing this project?
Our main objective was an improved website experience for RYAN customers. We wanted the site to be easier to navigate while providing more relevant content and information than the previous iteration. With the continued rise in digital marketing, we also wanted to ensure that the updated site could support – and be in line with – print and digital media, social media, sales support and other marketing or sales efforts throughout the year.
To achieve these objectives, we focused on the following:
- Voice of the customer: By including relatable terms used by actual professionals who use RYAN machines, we made the site easier to relate to while building relationships with core customers.
- Content editing: We kept content succinct for better readability and broke up large sections of text with imagery or videos.
- Content consolidation: We removed redundant or outdated pages to make sure all content on the site was current and engaging. These actions improved site speed and upload times.
- Thought leadership: We repurposed existing content into blog form and added a video gallery, creating space to share both written and video content.
What influenced your approach?
We focused the site design updates on the customer journey, ensuring layouts and navigation were straightforward while adhering to RYAN brand standards. Simple wayfinding and clean, legible text helped us achieve our ease-of-use goals for the updated site. We also wanted to feature RYAN products in use as often as possible on the site, preferring real-world examples over graphics or other resources.
What do you think stood out in your winning entry?
We created an attractive, easy-to-navigate digital presence for RYAN – without losing anything from the previous version. We made significant improvements across the board while sticking to the trusted RYAN brand and voice that customers have come to know and trust. This site will serve as the basis for RYAN marketing efforts for years to come.