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Happy 100th Birthday FTD! |
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Written by Amanda Ryder
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Aug. 18, 2010 - Today marks the day FTD, a wire service known for its Mercury Man logo, turns 100 years old. Founded in 1910 by 15 visionary florists who banded together in
order to give customers the ability to send flowers nationwide, FTD has
become one of the world’s best known brands, with the Mercury Man logo
displayed in over 40,000
floral shops worldwide.
“FTD began as an agreement between entrepreneurial florists and
100 years later our florists remain the life blood of our business,”
said Robert S. Apatoff, President of FTD Group, Inc. “Our founder, John
Valentine, and the other original FTD members truly were visionaries in
that they realized collective effort by florists could expand the
floral industry as a whole. FTD has grown exponentially over the past
100 years and while the marketplace is vastly different, our core
mission has not changed. Our mission is to help grow FTD and the retail
floral industry, ensure the success of our member florists and, of
course, make the world more beautiful with flowers.”
To celebrate its centennial milestone, FTD has launched a 100 Years of FTD Web site at www.ftdi.com/100. The website presents the company’s story from its founding, and
includes images, the history of the Mercury Man logo, and a video
presentation detailing pivotal moments in FTD’s rich history. The
company is also issuing an assortment of Anniversary Awards to
deserving florists including:
- FTD Lifetime Achievement Award
- FTD John A. Valentine Award
- FTD Industry Service Award
- FTD Marketing Award
FTD was founded in 1910 as the Florists’ Telegraph Delivery Association
(FTD), the country’s first flowers-by-wire service. It was led by
Valentine, a Colorado wholesale florist who recognized that in order
for the floral industry to grow, customers had to be able to send
flowers to each other nationwide, and florists had to work together to
allow them to do it. By 1930, over 5,000 florists had become FTD
members, and FTD’s Mercury Man logo, which had debuted in 1912, was
displayed in the members’ shops.
Throughout the 1980s, FTD evolved into a full service business solution
for florists. It launched many innovative sales, marketing and
technology programs to help FTD member florists grow their businesses.
In 1994, FTD created www.ftd.com as an additional way for consumers to shop for flowers. In 1999, the company combined www.ftd.com and its phone order business, 800-SEND-FTD, into one company called FTD.COM.
In August, 2008, FTD was acquired by United Online, Inc., and became a
subsidiary of that company. Since that time, FTD has instituted
significant new marketing efforts, including showcasing its famous FTD
black and gold marks and iconic Mercury Man logo. The company also
completed a major re-launch of the FTD.com Web site.
“Over the last 100 years, FTD has built its brand on innovation,
customer service, and a passion for the flower business, all of which
flow directly from the artisan florists who display the Mercury Man
logo in their shops,” said Apatoff. “These florists have helped make
FTD and the Mercury Man the gold-standard in flowers over the past 100
years.”
Over the years, many well-known celebrities have represented the FTD
brand. In the 1950s, the decade in which FTD changed its name from
Florists’ Telegraph Delivery Association to Florists’ Transworld
Delivery, Inc., its roster of celebrity endorsers included Kim Novak,
Elizabeth Taylor and Rosemary Clooney. In 1983, NFL Hall-of-Famer
Merlin Olsen became the new FTD spokesperson, a position he held for
the rest of the decade. Olsen appeared regularly in FTD television
commercials and helped FTD launch one of its most successful product
promotions, the Pick-Me-Up Bouquet ® . Through the next two decades,
Olsen, who died earlier this year, continued to be an important member
of the FTD family appearing at the Rose Parade and FTD conventions.
As befits a floral industry leader, FTD is also the longest-running
commercial participant in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade. It
entered its first award-winning float, themed after the company’s
popular “Say It With Flowers" slogan, in 1933. Currently, FTD is the
Official Floral Sponsor of the Tournament of Roses.
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