On another hot, mid-summer day, Orlando Otano Ramon, an employee of ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design in Venice, Fla., paused to wipe the sweat from his brow and catch his breath. The break was so brief he didn’t even bother putting down his shovel. Debra Morrow, ArtisTree’s marketing director, was on the jobsite that day and photographed Ramon. To her, Ramon served as a representative face of the industry.
“He just looked the part,” Morrow says.
When Morrow showed the photograph to her marketing team last summer, Thank a Landscaper was born. The initiative launched in January.
ArtisTree has a history of interesting marketing ploys, including a social media campaign that gave customers a chance to win a visit from the “plant fairy.” ArtisTree, a commercial and residential design, build and maintenance company, ranked No. 86 on Landscape Management’s LM150 list. But Morrow and her marketing team wanted their new campaign to do more than sell the features and benefits of ArtisTree.
The new campaign would shed a light on the often “invisible” landscape crews and brand the industry as an “intelligent workforce of professionals.” Most importantly, they wanted to thank the hard-working landscapers that refine the world.
“Our crews design and maintain these beautiful properties in extreme weather conditions, and it’s a thankless job,” Morrow says. “So we wanted to make an emotional appeal because we’re not just selling something, we’re selling the way customers feel after the work is done.”
The goal of Thank a Landscaper is to “thank life’s landscapers,” but in this case, the term “landscaper” extends past just landscape professionals, Morrow says. Parents, grandparents, friends or any role model that promotes the virtues of plants, landscape and nature can be “landscapers,” too. Today, ThankALandscaper.com features dozens of personalized thank-you notes to life’s “landscapers.”
To: J. Walters, Garrett Park, MD
JC has taken care of my lawn since he was 16. He is 46 now and still loves his work. He is always there for me—be it lawn care, grading or snow removal—with a smile. My landscaper is my friend.
From: P. Rye
To: N. Zuniga , Leander, TX
My grandfather is no longer with us, but growing up he showed me how to properly plant and manage plant material. I spent countless hours with him in his gardens and around his property where he showed me that hard work always pays off. Thanks PoPo.
From: J. Tamayo
To: J. Rye, Birmingham, AL
Papa Rye, you instilled the true meaning of the beauty in Mother Nature. You always nurtured and loved your plants and trees as if they were children. Thank you for raising my father that way, and in turn, he raised all his girls that way. You are responsible for a lot of beautiful women and plant life. Seeds grow from love. You showed us how.
From: L. McElhiney
To: D. Galunke of Central Landscaping , Fairport, NY
Thanks for bringing me with you on shadowing day to show me what it would be like to become a landscape architect! It was a great day and inspired me to pursue the Green Industry as a profession. Thanks to David and Mark for the experience, as I was 17 years old at the time.
From: K. Brummett
The Thank a Landscaper campaign inspired the company to take part in other service projects. On Arbor Day, for example, the company met with a local first-grade class to promote nature and give the students crape myrtle saplings to plant at home with their families.
Though the company wants to be remembered as the mind behind the initiative, it hopes the industry adopts the idea as its own and takes its ideals to new heights, Morrow says. The eventual goal is to create a scholarship fund for landscape professionals, their children and students pursuing green industry related studies, such as horticulture, landscape management and landscape design.
The picture that inspired the initiative now serves as part of its brand. Illustrator Randy Padorr-Black transformed the picture into a logo, which promotes the Thank a Landscape initiative on ArtisTree’s website, Twitter page (@ThankLandscaper), advertisements and business cards.
Morrow’s goal is to see the logo and links to the Thank a Landscaper website on the websites of manufacturers, dealers and service providers across the industry, “from the ValleyCrests of the world to the boutique landscape companies.” She would like it to serve as a badge of honor for those who support Thank a Landscaper’s ideals.
“I’d like to see the logo with Orlando become like the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval,” Morrow says. “When you saw that on something, you knew it was a quality product, and we want to have the same effect. When you see this icon on various websites, you know this company is supportive and an endorser of the landscape industry, and they give back to their communities in various ways.”
The logo creating that level of impact would be the best ‘thank you’ Morrow and the ArtisTree team could receive. For Ramon, becoming the face of the logo has been another contribution as a professional landscaper.
“He was very, very proud to be a part of this,” Morrow says.
