Evergreen Garden Care (EGC) has chosen Glee to launch its refreshed Miracle-Gro range. What the company classes as its ‘largest consumer research project on the lawn category to date’ has resulted in easier and clearer messaging for consumers and a longer season of repeat sales for retailers.

“We've stripped back the range, made it really clear and easy to shop, made the communication on the pack simpler and made the master brand Miracle-Gro impact of the yellow and green much more vibrant,” said Colin Stephens, Evergreen MD. “We believe this will make it so much easier for consumers to shop. It'll mean they'll shop more frequently, and the challenge is to get them in early and to keep them buying.”

The range has been sub-categorised into Lawn Treatment’, ‘Maintenance’, and ‘Seed’ to immediately help consumers identify the product they need. Karen Wilkinson, Evergreen’s Marketing Director said they spoke to experienced and inexperienced gardeners and found they wanted products to treat a specific problem and those that were happy with their lawn but wanted to keep it looking healthy all season.

Another key development is the inclusion, on the reverse of all the packs, of illustrations showing consumers a timeline of what to expect. “For those who are not so confident or don’t have so much expertise we are showing them what they need to use when in the season,” said Karen. “It’s not just about a new look and feel, but fundamentally we're trying to help bring more people in, buy products for longer through the season and get great results by using them properly.”

Karen also announced exciting plans for enhanced communication on and offline, with information and know-how videos being available soon on a new lawn portal. “For some gardeners we are talking about changing behaviours and this takes time. It’s not just about telling them once – we need be showing and guiding them.”

Totally peat-free

New peat-free growing media mixes were also launched including the specifically mixed Miracle-Gro Peat Free Premium Seeds, Plugs & Young Plants Compost. This formed part of the Evergreen’s celebration to be completely peat free. “It a huge step for us as a business. Not just for consumers but for our whole supply chain,” said Colin. “We've put a lot of investment into the way we and our suppliers manage raw materials and we're passionate about continuing to improve the quality, growing efficacy, how they look and the consistency. There's a lot still to be done, but we're moving the dial forward. We’ve learnt a lot, but I agree there is still too much variability. The only way to improve is to consistently learn.”

To this end, Evergreen is investing £4m into capital expenditure to improve its processing so it can continue to raise the bar on quality.