Why Scotts Miracle-Gro's Marketing Strategy Is Renewing Focus on Stores
Lawn and garden care company Scotts Miracle-Gro is doubling down on retail partnerships, targeted promotions and cost-saving initiatives to drive further growth and build out its standing in the category.
On a recent investors call, the company’s president and CEO, Jim Hagedorn, outlined some of the brand’s recent successes, expressing renewed focus on strengthening advertising capabilities and referring to marketing efforts as the company’s “jet fuel.”
In addition to hiring celebrities such as Martha Stewart to star in its marketing campaigns, the company is also focused on promotions, retailer partnerships, brand support and shopper activation programs.
Retail Partnerships & In-Store Activation
The company is integrating its own advertising efforts with retailer programs to drive greater foot traffic and in-store activation. Much of this success hinges on the brand’s ability to get consumers into stores, and Hagedorn expressed confidence that Scotts Miracle-Gro had a strong standing in this space, outlining how the brand “operate[s] within an environment where very few retailers play.”
[See Also: Retail Media Unplugged, Scotts Miracle-Gro]
That’s not to say it is an unimportant category: Lawn and garden accounts for a fifth of total sales and 40% of spring foot traffic, Hagedorn said, adding that Scotts’ ability to attract shoppers into stores has strengthened its position with retail partners, securing more shelf space, off-shelf displays and promotional opportunities for the brand.
These achievements in part account for Scotts’ sizable spend on consumer activation programs run by the company’s retailers, the exec said.
"When you combine these retailer programs with what we're investing in our own advertising and brand support, that total investment nears 20% of sales," he added. "This might sound like a lot and it is. and we're going to continue to spend even more here over the years going forward."
So far, these investments appear to be yielding good returns, with a nearly 10% lift in point-of-sale (POS) performance last year. “We outperformed the category by 3X, even more if you include live goods,” Hagedorn said.
Another major focus is expanding demographic reach, particularly among Hispanic consumers — a growing segment in the lawn and garden market. As part of this effort, the company said it is intending to launch bilingual advertising on digital platforms and Spanish-language TV alongside its existing campaigns.
Watching Costs to Keep Growth on Track
To support all these strategies, the company said it is continuing to pay close attention to cost-saving and cutting. Project Springboard — a multiyear initiative aimed at redirecting how spending is allocated — has already reportedly delivered $400 million in annual savings, with $100 million reinvested back into the company’s growth efforts.
Hagedorn added that cost-cutting measures will remain a priority as consumers remain price-conscious and look for value-driven purchasing decisions.
“At a time when pricing is hard to get — and rightly so given today's state of the consumer — our ability to reduce our cost structure and realize operational savings is more important than ever,” Hagedorn added.
Homing in on promotions specifically, Nate Baxter, executive VP and COO, outlined how the company is making strides to align top-of-funnel media spending with in-store consumer conversion across the entire path to purchase.
Baxter noted that while private label remains a key component of retailers’ strategies, it does not pose a competitive threat, pointing out that private label share has declined since 2019.
“I don’t see it as something that’s going to derail our focus on growth and margin,” said Baxter.
