Problem:

Nothing says I love you quite like flowers. But flowers need water. And sending them during Cape Town’s worst drought in 100 years, was kind of in-sensitive. As citizens were limited to just 50l of water per day, Netflorist, South Africa’s biggest online florist, had to act fast. Because as the Cape was drying up, so was business.

Solution:

Instead of telling people to say it with flowers, Netflorist told them to say it…with a cactus. But after years of tradition, people needed convincing. So, for every cactus sent, we donated R10 to the National Drought Relief fund, on their behalf. And, they embraced it!

Results:

Soon, people everywhere were sending cacti for all sorts of occasions. And before long, the cactus had become a new symbol for love and care all over South Africa. And while business should have withered away, sales spiked by 46%. Our most successful promotion yet. But best of all, hundreds of thousands of Rands were donated to the Drought Relief Fund.