We support the entire
poinsettia supply chain

Campaign activities can vary depending on whether a country is part of a current round of EU funding. SfE partners with a wide network of talented agencies and freelancers in order to produce materials and deliver campaigns in 22 European countries. Contact the agency in your country for concrete information on what’s happening near you.

Countries receiving EU funding:
Our partners are working on a widespread holistic marketing campaign in your country. This involves consumer and trade PR in various forms, development of POS materials, social media, and more. Find out more about the campaign on the EU website.

From 2021-24 an EU funded campaign will run in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland Spain and Sweden.

Country campaigns funded by industry only:
Our partners are developing media material and creating consumer press coverage. For the trade, free POS materials are available to download, and our yearly-updated image bank can be used for your own purposes, such as creating social media content and POS.

In order to receive EU funding, specific targets must be set, for example, the amount of coverage in media publications or the total number of people reached by our content online. Our targets are defined based on 20 years’ experience of working in partnership with a wide network of talented specialists.

We track our results by analysing market data over time; this is a necessary requirement for EU campaign countries. We source market data from a range of reputable sources including GfK and AMI in Germany and by commissioning Kantar consumer surveys internationally. As an example, in Germany – which represents the biggest market – the poinsettia’s market position has seen a positive shift. From 2010 to 2020, the poinsettia increased its market share of the flowering indoor plant market from 8% to 11%*. The total market of flowering pot plants has decreased continuously since 2008, yet poinsettia sales remain (almost) stable. SfE campaigning is raising sales and stabilising the poinsettia’s position in a difficult market.

*AMI consumer data

SfE is the marketing initiative of European poinsettia breeders Beekenkamp Plants, Dümmen Orange, Selecta one and Syngenta Flowers. At board level, the organisation is represented by the staff of breeder members across both management and marketing.

Project management: Green Marketing Europe, Dr. Susanne Lux

Under the company umbrella of Green Marketing Europe GmbH (GME), Dr. Susanne Lux manages the Stars for Europe campaign alongside its sister campaign Pelargonium for Europe. Previously Dr. Lux has supervised numerous projects in the area of market analysis and marketing in the green sector. To manage the projects, GME is supported by a small team of dedicated staff and freelancers.

Partner agencies: SfE partners with a wide network of talented agencies and freelancers in order to produce materials and deliver campaigns in 22 European countries. Thanks to valuable, longstanding relationships with European experts in PR, marketing and horticulture, the campaign is able to deliver the very best results to support Europe’s breeders, producers and green trade. Any new tender opportunities are published here.

The campaign’s core funding is provided by a breeder marketing fee that is calculated according to cutting sales from European growers.

Since 2011, SfE has been successfully receiving additional financial support from the EU, enabling the campaign to grow significantly. When an EU campaign runs in certain countries, funding for those countries is split: 80% by EU, 20% by green sector.

EU-funded countries host large-scale, holistic marketing campaigns comprising a wide mix of boosted measures from PR to media cooperation, events, POS support and more. EU funds also enable SfE to produce central materials such as photography, videos and texts which can be used in all countries – including those who are not part of the EU programme. This allows the remaining industry funds to focus entirely on delivering campaign materials via partner agencies in other countries.

The EU has a promotion policy to help agricultural producers sell their EU products in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, at the same time as delivering jobs and growth at home. EU-funded promotion campaigns are designed to open up new market opportunities for EU farmers and the wider industry, as well as helping them build their existing business.

To support the ornamental plant sector, SfE has successfully applied for EU co-financing since 2011. Not only is the EU application process extremely complex, but coordinating and actioning EU-supported activities also requires specialist knowledge and training. SfE is pleased to have secured this support for so long and plans to continue fulfilling its campaign goals to benefit Europe’s wider horticulture sector and supply chain.

The country budgets are decided by SfE’s steering board of breeding companies. Non-EU funded budgets are decided annually, whereas EU programmes last for three years. If personnel working for breeders or producers can see an opportunity for increased budget in a certain country, this can be put forward to the board for discussion. Countries with EU funding see significantly higher budgets.

In order to apply for EU funding, SfE conducts extensive market research to gather vital information about the poinsettia trade and supply lines, including close partnerships with industry experts, as well as consumer perspectives on the poinsettia and consumer buying trends for flowers and plants. All of the campaign content and strategy is based closely on this valuable knowledge and research – from target audiences to key messages, storylines to visuals and more.

Whilst SfE’s budgets have been significantly increased thanks to EU funding, they are still far from the level of famous global brands, so the campaign must be clever and creative with its marketing. Thus, strategic media partnerships are based on many factors. SfE works with highly skilled partners in each country. Their knowledge combined with SfE’s experience allows the campaign to target and achieve press coverage and collaborations with Europe’s top media including many outlets that could be viewed as ‘out of reach’ for SfE’s budgets.

There is a large appetite for printed POS materials in Germany and Poland in particular, so these countries are the biggest target markets for POS promotional activity. Thousands of items are distributed to retailers in Germany and Poland each year. In other countries, materials are available to download online for free, and SfE sees hundreds of downloads per year.

In most cases the answer is yes: if you are a grower, retailer or working in the poinsettia trade, SfE resources are here to support you. You can find all materials available on the Resources page, where you can also read the Terms & Conditions for usage of SfE photos.

Visit our consumer website, www.starsforeurope.com, for B2C press releases, photo bank and a consumer-facing blog featuring poinsettia inspiration and ideas. On social media, SfE runs an internationally facing Instagram and Pinterest feed, and multiple Facebook pages in various languages.

Subscribe to the SfE trade newsletter, where we send international updates on campaign achievements during and following the poinsettia season.