Founded in August of 2011, BloomNation is an American online floral marketplace for people to list, discover, and send unique bouquets handcrafted by local florists across the country. 

What is the story behind BloomNation? 

My Aunt was a local florist who was struggling. Because she didn’t know how to capture customers online, she was forced to rely on the big brokers like 1-800-flowers, but they would charge so much commission for those orders, it was really hard for her to stay profitable. I also noticed that the customers of those online brokers were generally unsatisfied with the service, so being an economic major from Berkeley, I felt like there was a real problem to solve here. So I decided to build BloomNation to empower the small business owners with technology to help them attract and retain their own customers, putting them in control and helping them thrive in a world that is typically dominated by large corporations.

When did you start thinking about your brand name and how did you settle on BloomNation?

I put a list of names together and just let them marinate in my head/heart. At the time, I focused more on the domain name availability than any advanced brand strategy around the name.

What were your considerations when picking up a domain name for your brand?

I knew I wasn’t going to pay a lot for a domain, so it had to be a decent name but more importantly for me, available for purchase as a new domain from a registrar.

 

Who is your target customer and how is your brand name helping in reaching them and communicating your message?

While we do have a consumer focus, I knew that the local florists had to buy into the vision/brand of the company. These were all small business owners who felt a sense of community in the industry. I also know that these florists were trying to grow their business to survive, so the name fits perfectly with our mission. “Bloom” meant thriving, growing and “Nation” gave the sense of community across the country.

What has been the toughest thing in the process of developing BloomNation as a brand so far? How do you overcome it?

Very few brands really execute on keeping consistent. A successful brand has a strong voice, visual assets and employee culture that is perfectly and consistently aligned to the brand. That is incredibly hard to do.

Would you do something differently with regards to your overall brand strategy if you could go back in time?

I would care about it a lot more in the beginning and make sure our employee culture aligns with it day 1.

How do you plan to stay ahead of your competitors?

By providing the best technology, service, and value.

For a logo you get a designer, for handling your social media you have Social Media Manager, for content you have Writers, where do you go for advice on domain names?

I never got professional advice, it was a very independent thing for me.

What would you advise entrepreneurs on naming, branding and online presence?

Make sure you’re investing enough in the beginning because rebranding is far more difficult and expensive than you think.

How far in the future do you think, when you think about your business?

5 years tactically, 10 years strategically.

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Find out more about BloomNation.

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