Vera Bradley In Bloom Tour – Silver

Vera Bradley is known for its brightly colored, vivaciously patterned fabric handbags, travel bags and accessories. To reward its devoted fan base as well as attract the attention of women who weren’t yet customers, the brand decided to take its sunny esthetic on the road, visiting 31 malls in 11 states during spring 2012.

Not just any old truck or minivan would do for this road trip, however. Working with agency A Squared Group, Vera Bradley outfitted a 1987 Jeep Wagoneer with side panels covered with its floral Priscilla Pink pattern to tow a custom-built trailer that converted into a mobile flower shop.

The trailer would park inside or in the parking lot of the malls, and visitors were able to select their favorite flowers to have made into bouquets, which were wrapped in Vera Bradley-patterned tissue paper. Each bouquet came with a same-day invite to receive a free gift at the nearby participating retailer and a coupon, good for use immediately or in the future, for $20 off a Vera Bradley purchase.

The free flowers certainly put a spring in the step of both customers and prospects, with nearly 10,000 receiving bouquets, and those springy steps led many of them to their nearest Vera Bradley retailer: The average conversion rate among all 31 locales was an impressive 63%, with one locale reporting a 91% conversion rate. More than 5,000 women registered with their local retailer to receive the free gift.

Perhaps just as important, by meeting consumers face to face, Vera Bradley brand ambassadors captured a wealth of customer information. And while the feel-good factor is tough to quantify, you can’t beat customer comments like this one: “The fact that Vera Bradley would think to throw an event like this for their customers makes me a Vera girl for life!”