Marketing

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2017 National Plant of the Year –Supertunia Vista Bubblegum

Enhance Your Sales in Spring, Summer and FallSince our National Recipe program debuted six years ago, growers and retailers have found huge successes in growing and moving these dependable, in-demand recipes. The formula is simple: Select easy-to-grow recipes, promote them through national marketing efforts, and achieve incredible sales.

Above & Beyond, our National Spring Recipe, ranks as our #3 top recipe and highlights our 2017 National Plant of the Year, Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum®. The inclusion of the new Supertunia® Vista Fuchsia Improved makes each of the three components well-matched in vigor and habit.

Backyard BBQ, our National Summer Recipe, showcases the latest edition to our Supertunia® line with Really Red, a remarkably improved selection with far greater vigor and all-season performance. It also includesthe drought tolerant Flambé® Yellow Chrysocephalum, an often overlooked but perfect plant for summer sales.

Honeybelle, our National Fall Recipe, captures the mood of the season with its warm orange and gold tones, while including varieties that can handle both the end of summer heat as well as frosty fall days. This dynamic combination includes the new Superbells® Yellow Improved which delivers loads of color on tightly branched plants.

2017 National Summer RecipeBackyard BBQ

SUPERBELLS® Dreamsicle CalibrachoaFLAMBÉ® Yellow Chrysocephalum apiculatum

SUPERTUNIA® Really Red Petunia

2017 National Spring RecipeAbove & Beyond

SUPERTUNIA® Vista BUBBLEGUM® PetuniaSUPERTUNIA® Vista Fuchsia Improved Petunia

SUPERTUNIA® Vista Silverberry Petunia

2017 National Fall RecipeHoneybelle

SUPERBELLS® Yellow Improved CalibrachoaCAMPFIRE™ Fireburst BidensSUPERTUNIA® Honey Petunia

After ten years of roaring success with our National Recipes Program, we are ready to take the next step to help you increase your sales of Proven Winners plants. In 2017, we are launching our

first-ever Plant of the Year: SUPERTUNIA® Vista BUBBLEGUM®. Growers, retailers and gardeners acrossNorth America have experienced its phenomenal performance, and we’re ready to make headlines with

an unprecedented marketing campaign in 2017. Be prepared for the coming demand.

®®

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How We Support Our Independent Retailers

Free Staff TrainingA record number of 836 IGCs completed our freestaff training program in 2016, with over 6,200 employees becoming Proven Winners Certified. Have YOU taken advantage of this valuable opportunity yet? To celebrate our 15th year of certification, we offered a FREE pizza party to every retailer who completed certification by May 1, 2016. It was such a roaring success that we’ll be offering free pizza parties again next year.

Certified Proven Winners Retailers receive a priority listing on our online Retailer Locator which is displayed prominently throughout our website for millions of visitors to access. It is your responsibility to keep your listing up to date, so check back often and contact Sandy with questions:sandy@provenwinners.com or 1-815-895-1872.

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Gardener’s Idea BookEach spring, 700,000 gardeners across NorthAmerica anticipate the arrival of our Gardener’sIdea Book and the inspiration, photos, and combination recipes that it brings. Make sure itreaches customers in your area in 2017 by takingadvantage of our customized mailing offer.

We’ll pay for the books, address them to your customers, and even include a customized promotional message for your garden center. All you have to do is provide an Excel file with a mailing list and pay the postage costs. To take advantage of this customized offer, a minimum of 250 customer addresses is required.

Learn more at www.provenwinners.com/retailer-gardeners-idea-book-co-op orcontact Sandy for details: Sandy@provenwinners.com or 1-815-895-1872.

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Social Media Support It is our goal to be the ultimate online resource for everyone from future gardeners who are new to Proven Winners to experienced brand champions. We’ll get them excited about plants, teach them how to garden in simple snapshots, and then send them your way when it’s time to shop.

Hosting an open house or Proven Winners event? Send your information to Jeanine at Jeanine@provenwinners.com and we’ll post your event on our social channels.

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PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDBloomington, ILPermit No. 437

111 East Elm Street, Suite DSycamore, Illinois 60178

Suggested Retail Price: $1.00

© 2016 Proven Winners® All rights reserved.

Important Legal Notice: The plant varieties shown herein are protected by U.S. Plant Patents, or are U.S. Plant Patent Applied For, are protected by Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights, or are Canadian Plant Breeders’ Rights Applied For, and/or are protected by trademark law. International Plant Breeders’ Rights and/or trademarks also apply. In the U.S. and Canada, please visit provenwinners.com/patents for more information.

THEGRANDGARDEN SHOWMACKINAC ISLAND

THEGRANDGARDEN SHOWMACKINAC ISLAND

Your Carriage Awaits. . .

Sunday, August 28th - Tuesday, August 30th, 2016Visit www.grandgardenshow.comCome and celebrate the beauty of flowers and the rich history of Mackinac Island at the enchanting Grand Hotel. Join us for an entertaining multi-day event including guided tours, engaging speakers and much more. Cultivate memories to last a lifetime.

Wednesday, September 7 - Friday, September 9, 2016Visit www.greenbriergardenshow.comNestled among the breathtaking mountains of West Virginia near White Sulphur Springs, The Greenbrier is a 10,000 acre luxury resort and national historic landmark. Join us for an amazing experience among the gardens that you’ll remember forever.

Readymade Graphics AvailableOur team of social media specialists has found great success in customizingour social media graphics and content to suit the style of our social channels. As a retail customer of Proven Winners,you have the exclusive benefit of obtaining our social media graphics to use on your own social channels. Please contact Jessica DeGraaf for details:Jessica@provenwinners.com or 1-616-706-7970.

Seattle

Portland

Salt Lake City

Boston

HartfordNew York

Philadelphia

Detroit

Chicago

Minneapolis

Kansas City

Raleigh

Atlanta

TampaHouston

Dallas

San Diego

Los Angeles

San Francisco Washington, DC

Charlotte

Denver

ColumbusMilwaukee

Cincinnati

ClevelandCape Cod

Radio CampaignIf your garden center is located in one of the 28 major markets where we buy airtime and you commit to ordering 3,500 Proven Winners plants in our branded containers, you can take advantage of our FREE co-op radio advertising program. In 2017, our entire radio campaign will shift to Pandora internet radio, generating nearly 50 million impressions with commercials and display ads.

Contact Tabatha for details: Tabatha@provenwinners.com or 1-601-527-5213.

Compliments of XYZ Garden Center

Ima Gardener1000 Country LaneAnytown, USA 00000-0000

Pandora display ads

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Reaching Out Daily in All Directions

We have once again partnered with P. Allen Smith and sponsored both

his popular gardening shows.

137,409FOLLOWERS

Facebook

13,595FOLLOWERS

Twitter

9,099FOLLOWERS

Instagram

28,571CONSUMER QUESTIONS ANSWERED

FeedbackQuestions

5 CHANNELS

452,480 VIDEO VIEWS

Websiteviews

189,157REPINS/MONTH

Pinterest

183,000 SUBSCRIBERS

700,000DISTRIBUTED IN US AND CANADA

ANNUALLY

Gardener’sIdea Book

Winners Circle®

Newsletter

Working for You 24/7/365Our dedicated social media team is working hard to reach more consumers than ever by studying trends, providing relevant content and creating attractive posts that appeal to all kinds of gardeners. We personally answer our fans’ questions every day by phone and online to continue to build those relationships. Here is a snapshot of our broad-reaching efforts:

Timely billboard messages promote the Proven Winners brand on billboards across North America.

Up 29% inone year

Up 22% inone year

Up 742% in one year

Up 50% inone year

3,733,138VISITORS

Proven Winnerswebsites

Creating Sales OpportunitiesNo matter what your POP needs may be, Proven Winners has a solution for you. Choose from our comprehensive selection of readymade POP from our online store and have it delivered within 48 hours. Or, if you prefer a custom look, we’ll be happy to work with you to create customized POP with your own logo and message.

WaterWise® KitOffer your customers an easy, efficientsolution for the time-intensive task ofwatering – WaterWise®. This handy watering kit contains everything yourcustomers need to water up to 10 pottedplants from a single faucet. Use a singlekit or connect as many as three togetherto run in a single direction for 90 feet.

Proven Winners Premium Potting SoilSupport your customers’ success by offering them Proven Winnerspremium potting soil that will helptheir plants thrive. Our potting soilcontains a blend of grower-gradepeat moss, composted bark, perlite,dolomite lime to buffer soil pH, anda professional wetting agent.

Proven Winners Plant FoodsFormulated especially for our plants,Proven Winners premium plant foodprovides the additional mineralsProven Winners varieties need tomaximize their growth and flower production. Recommend them withconfidence to your customers.

Newly styled posters feature relatable messages and images that connect easily with today’s casual gardeners.

Tabatha will be happy to work with you on fully customized POP. Contact her at Tabatha@provenwinners.com or 1-601-527-5213. 29%

in one year

Views Up

30,958 A DAY1,290 AN HOUR22 A MINUTE

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Industry TrendsAt Proven Winners, we are constantly observing and responding to the trends that are occurring in our business and with our customers. Sometimes they happen quickly and others simmer over time, but what is constant is that change is alwayshappening. Many times, it is the result of a driving trend. Here are a few trends we are monitoring and what our response is to these movements.

Getting unplugged.As more people are turning from desktops to mobile devices and streaming services from cable providers, we are adjusting our media buying and content to better suit the fast moving, ever-changing media consumer. In 2017, we will be moving much of our print advertising budget into social media and online advertising, and direct mail campaigns for trade audiences. We will also be moving all our traditional radio advertising over to digital/streamed music provider Pandora, following our highly successful 2016 campaign.

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Moving faster. Now is not soon enough.With increasing technology comes the ability to make quick interactions. It seems that consumers have little patience to wait for anything anymore – from a sandwich to an Amazon delivery. Expectations of quick servicemay not be determined within our industry, but they still impact us. Think about Amazon Prime Now, a 1-hour delivery service that is now available in 27 metropolitan cities impacting 150+ million people, who now will demand an increased level of service from all of their retailers, including us.

At Proven Winners, we have increased our capacity to respond within 24 hours to the thousands of questionswe receive through our online feedback system. We are also developing a brand new program that will assistconsumers in directly contacting our retail customers for specific varieties. We call it “plantmatch.com” andwe’ll be releasing more details as we launch the application.

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Solo-preneurs get attention.As individuals turn passions into professions, freelancers and work-from-home employees will continue to increase their production and get results. Let’s look at Aaron and Laura LeBoutillier from Ontario, Oregon (population 11,091), for example.

This year, we challenged our marketing team to find people who were making a difference in social mediapertaining to gardening. One of our freelancers suggested we begin watching and following a young, dynamichusband and wife team called Garden Answer who were posting videos to YouTube and their Facebook page.Immediately, we were impressed by the quality of their work, their genuine personalities and the huge numberof fans they were reaching.

As a result, Aaron and Laura are now developing videos weekly to entertain, inform and promote Proven Winners products throughout the year. Is there someone you could hire to handle various aspects of your business, allowing you to focus your resources elsewhere?

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Subscriptions – Supersized.We’ve all heard about subscription services like Dollar Shave Club, BirchBox, Apple Music, Pandora and Netflix.What about our industry? What can we deliver on a regular basis to an audience that is increasingly busy and making more of their purchases during quick shopping trips or midnight online buying sprees?

This year, Proven Winners will be enhancing our social media content sharing platform on Google Drive. It will enable our customers to select which social media platforms they need content for and provide them with ready-to-use, pre-sized and optimized content for those platforms. In Spring 2016, we also offered a unique program inpartnership with Jamie Durie in which we created 12 videos for IGCs to share on their own social media channels.

Perhaps there are needs our customers have – an insatiable need for relevant information, social media content, updated availability, connection to new customers – where technology can be harnessed to work more efficiently to create automatic orders, easier dissemination of information or shared content.

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150+ million Americans can order from Amazon Prime Now and receive their order in 1-hour. How quickly can you respond to your customers?

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111 East Elm Street, Suite DSycamore, Illinois 60178

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PAIDBloomington, ILPermit No. 437

https://www.provenwinners.com/professionals/retailers/certification

What’sNewfor2016?

43 incredible new annuals to boost your bottom line including these six innovative selections your customers will “flip over.” See them all atwww.provenwinners.com/plants/search/year/2016.

LEMON CORAL™Sedum mexicanum

SUPERBENA® Sparkling AmethystVerbena

SUNSATIA® Blood OrangeNemesia

MYSTIC Illusion Dahlia SUPERBELLS® Evening Star Calibrachoa

SUPERBELLS® HOLY MOLY!™ Calibrachoa ‘USCALCHSTM’ USPPAF CanPBRAF

It’s quickly become one of the most easily recognized new introductions for 2016. One look at its WOW! blooms and you’ll know why.

SUPERBELLS® Evening Star Calibrachoa ‘USCAL42202’ USPPAF CanPBRAF

The long-awaited cool blue Calibrachoa is finally here! You’ll be dually impressed by its phenomenal performance.

MYSTIC Illusion Dahlia An absolute favorite of growers and gardeners, the drastic contrast between dark foliage and bright flowers is irresistible.

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEW

NEWNEW

SUPERBELLS® HOLY MOLY!™Calibrachoa

SUNSATIA® Blood Orange Nemesia ‘**’ USPPAF CanPBRAF

Vigorous and heat-tolerant enough to include in all of your hanging baskets and combos, here’s a hot new color in Nemesia.

LEMON CORAL™ Sedum mexicanum You know that customer that kills every plant you sell them? This is the tough-as-nails plant to help them earn their “green thumb” status.

SUPERBENA® Sparkling Amethyst Verbena ‘**’ USPPAF CanPBRAF

Count on extra impulse sales with this bicolor beauty. It’s gorgeous, versatile and easy to grow. In other words, it’s got it all!

Don’t miss out on breaking news and special programs for retailers!Sign up today for our monthly newsletter – Retailing with Proven Winners – at www.provenwinners.com/professionals/newsletters.

NewVarietiesfromProvenWinners®

P. Allen Smith Gets the Word Out

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P. Allen Smith, a third generation nurseryman from Little Rock, Arkansas, continues to be one of the most highly recognized gardeningspokesmen across North America, and he is committed to promoting Proven Winners plants. Through his efforts described here, he is reaching millions of gardeners through both traditional and new media as well as in-person appearances to promote our plants at select garden centers and Proven Winnersevents. In addition, the 40 plants chosen for his Platinum Collection are a key focus of Allen’s promotions.

Allen is always a hit when he presents his keynote at our Grand Garden Show, now four years running.

Look for the P. Allen Smith Platinum Collection icon throughout our catalog to see which varieties P. Allen Smith will be promoting this year. For a complete list of Platinum Collection varieties, visitwww.provenwinners.com/plant-program/p-allen-smithplatinum-collection

Television CoverageGarden Home, now in its 15th season, reaches a remarkable95% of total U.S. television markets while Garden Style, now in its 16th season, reaches 72% of total U.S. televisionmarkets. Together, these two shows air on 693 stations nationwide. 35 episodes are produced annually; this year’sthemes included How Plants Become Proven Winners, Super Blooms: Hydrangeas and WaterWise, among severalothers which featured Proven Winners plants.

Social Media EffortsAllen and his team are focusing a significant amount of their resources on social media, understanding that theirnew followers live online in social communities. Facebook and Instagram are two of their primary outlets, wherethey reach over 300,000 followers with daily posts from Moss Mountain Farm and Allen’s travels. Showing ourplants in garden settings is vital to connecting with these audiences who crave down-to-earth content that is inspirational yet achievable.

This stunning photo of Let’s Dance® Rhythmic Blue™ taken at P. Allen Smith’s farm was liked by 7,100 fans, shared 664 times and commented on by 392 people.

Instagram is a rapidly growing social media platform where close up images like this beautifulshot of Supertunia® Bordeaux™ plays well with the younger audience. This image motivated 596 people to “like” our #4 top-selling variety.

P. Allen Smith Garden Home WebsiteP. Allen Smith debuted a brand new website design inJanuary, 2016 where Platinum Collection varieties andthe Proven Winners brand are prominently featured. The site receives over 1.4 million unique visitors annually. A Proven Winners banner ad runs weeklythroughout the site. Banner ads are also run in ten E-newsletters throughout the year. View our brand page at pallensmith.com/sponsors/proven-winners/.

Moss Mountain FarmEvery year, we make it a priority to send new varieties of annuals, perennials and shrubs to Moss Mountain Farm where they are photographed and filmed. Allen’s crew capturesimages of our plants in his landscape which areideal for creating content for Proven Winners’and Allen’s social media channels, printed publications and presentations. In addition, allof the visitors who attend special events at thefarm have the chance to fall in love with ourplants in these majestic gardens.

THEGRANDGARDEN SHOWMACKINAC ISLAND

THEGRANDGARDEN SHOWMACKINAC ISLAND

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The Gardener’s Idea Book GiveawayThis year, 700,000 gardeners across North America found ideas, inspiration and exceptional plants in the Proven Winners Gardener’s Idea Book. Make sure the 2017 edition gets in your customers’ hands by taking advantage of our customized mailing offer. We’ll post the list of plants that it will include on our website in late fall for you to use to build your plant orders, then post a sneak peek of the brochure for you under the Professionals section of our website in winter.

Top 5 Reasons to Send Customized Gardener’s Idea Books:• It’s affordable. The books are FREE, you just pay the postage.• It’s customizable. We’ll help you create a customized mailing panel, add your company name or logo.• It’s easy. Send us your Excel file with at least 250 addresses or use our online tool to upload your information.• It’s predictable. Tell us when you’d like the books to land in your customers’ mailboxes and we’ll make it happen.• It’s practical. Your customers are looking for ideas and we have just the right tool to inspire them using products you carry.

2016 Gardener’s Idea Book cover shown here. 2017 cover design – to be determined.

Going Beyond with Proven BeautyThe Gardener’s Idea Book is no longer just a 36-pageprinted book. We’ve moved way beyond and createdProven Beauty – www.beauty.provenwinners.com –a microsite that greatly expands on the content featured in every spread of the Gardener’s Idea Book. Designedwith the savvy nature lover in mind, this beautifully modern online resource offers project ideas, regionalizedplant suggestions, and loads of new content for gardeners new and experienced.

Looking to boost your garden center’s image as a valuable resource for gardening information? Link toProven Beauty from your website. Let your employeesknow about the fun projects being shown there, then stock the products your customers will need to complete their new patio projects, plant combinations, and more.

We Invest in Garden CommunicatorsGarden communicators make it their business to tell consumers about the latest and greatest plants. And we make sure that they have many of them to trial. Each year, Proven Winners provides samples of several of our new annuals, perennials, and shrubs directly to the doors of more than 300 garden communicators across North America.

SUPERBELLS® Hollywood StarCalibrachoa

QUICKSILVER™ Artemisia SUPERBELLS® Tropical SunriseCalibrachoa

GRACEFUL GRASSES® PRINCE TUT™

CyperusANGELFACE® Perfectly PinkAngelonia

‘Pardon My Cerise’Monarda didyma

SUPERTUNIA® Vista Fuchsia Improved Petunia

PRAIRIE WINDS® ‘Apache Rose’ Panicum

‘Opening Act Blush’Phlox

BRIGHT LIGHTS™ YellowOsteospermum

LET’S DANCE® BLUE JANGLES®

Hydrangea macrophylla‘Diamond Ball’ Clematis‘Aphrodite’

Calycanthus ZINFIN DOLL™

Hydrangea paniculata

Need an Idea? Try Our Story Starters.New in 2016, we began sending monthly “Story Starters” to a list of key gardencommunicators across the country and we have been very pleased with the highopen rates and click thrus. The idea is to deliver timely content and story ideasto writers that they can use to show how Proven Winners plants can solve important issues, be used in fun project ideas, and enhance their surroundings.Each story package contains a specific theme, ideas for articles, a list of relatedplants and web links, and three images, with additional images available online.We are excited to have this team of garden communicators spreading the good news about Proven Winners across the country.

PURPLE PILLAR™

Hibiscus syriacus

Additional Proven Winners® shrubs sent to garden communicators by Spring Meadow Nursery:Let’s Dance® Diva! Hydrangea, Let’s Dance® Rave™ Hydrangea, and Blue Diddley® Vitex

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Don’t miss our newsletters for growers and retailers.Do you receive our monthly newsletters? Sign up today at www.provenwinners.com/professionals/newsletters.

Our Grower Newsletter includes videos on how to grow our new varieties, combination suggestions for new varieties, grower event notifications, and Q&As for your growing questions.

Our Retailer Newsletter includes information about our annual Certification Training Program, retailer event notifications, radio program updates and reminders, marketing updates and new variety information.

Grower Newsletter Retailer Newsletter

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