Venus et Fleur - Deconstructed
As others have included in their blog posts, I realized that I don't see a lot of "old-school" commercials/advertisements, because like so many of my colleagues, I have enabled ad-blockers, or I just don't use the services where you would see them. I purposefully pay a premium on my one subscription service so I don't see ads, and I haven't really had time to watch Youtube (one of the main sources of video advertisements for me nowadays). However, as many classmates have stated, Instagram seems to be pushing heavier advertising these days. It would seem as though marketing teams have discovered that if they want to reach potential customers, they have to stay adaptable, which they have done. Seeing as how Valentine's Day is this week, and I have ordered flowers online in the past (though not through them), I seemed to see Venus et Fleur's advertisements quite a bit last week.
Who created this message? The marketing team behind Venus et Fleur, created these posts. A little research showed me that Nikki Rodriguez is their marketing director, but as the owners Seema Bansal Chadha and Sunny Chadha remain very hands-on in the company, I'm sure they gave approval for the posts.
What creative techniques are used to attract attention? The dark lighting, the implied romantic setting, and the fact that the flowers are in the foreground, with some of the brightest lighting, brings your attention to the words written in the roses. The message is clear - if you send your love these flowers, it will lead to romance. In addition to this, sending the person you care about these flowers shows your love for them. The company relies heavily on celebrity endorsements as well, sending flowers to celebrities in the hopes that they will share photos to their followers (which they have done, helping cement the brand as a success).
How might different people interpret this message? Well, obviously, I think people who aren't in relationships wouldn't be as interested in this message. Not saying single people don't love flowers, but ones that spell out "I #heart# U" probably isn't going to do much for them.
What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in the message? Who's left out? A heterosexual lifestyle is definitely represented first and foremost. As a gay man, I was a little upset that most of the companies' Instagram adverts featured straight couples. Going to their IG page, I had t0 scroll quite a while before seeing any representation for gay couples, and they definitely didn't have the same tone as the companies typical hetero-centric posts. Also, I noticed that there were no posts featuring darker-skinned people of color. It definitely seemed as though they were marketing to white folks of wealth. The flowers are also EXTREMELY expensive, with promises that their Eternity Roses "last a year". So obviously, they are pushing to a wealthy customer base.
Why is this message being sent out? This message is being sent out because in the United States, we celebrate Valentine's Day like we do many of our holidays - capitalistically. By pushing a heavy amount of advertisements, Venus et Fleur is throwing out a wide fishing net, so to speak. By that, I mean that if even a small percentage of people who see the advertisements order their flowers, they will still pull in a lot of orders before the holiday is over. On their site, they have a "countdown ticker" to when the last possible time you can order their flowers and have them delivered by Valentine's Day, which let's people know they can still order.