The Texas Superstar® Program: Success through Partnership

T exas Superstar is a marketing assistance program that involves the promotion of outstanding plants that have proven performance in most regions of Texas. From the beginning, this program has represented a partnership between the Texas AM 2) must be unique and offer desirable and ornamental characteristics (i.e., the ability to perform in the heat of a Texas summer or pest resistance) not usually available in commonly sold plants; 3) must consistently perform well for most Texas consumers regardless of their gardening expertise and growing locations; 4) must be as pest resistant as possible (deer proof an added bonus); 5) must be able to be propagated and massproduced in sufficient numbers to meet increased consumer demand; and 6) preferably is so attractive in the sales container that it sells itself to consumers who have never heard of the many attributes of the plant. Conservatively, Texas Superstar marketing promotions have been estimated using informal surveys of producers to have resulted in $15 million of increased sales at the major wholesaler level not including value-added components or smaller wholesaler production. Texas is a climatic microcosm of much of the United States (Mackay et al., 2001). The state spans four U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones, has 15 unique land resource areas and eight major soil orders, and has annual precipitation rates ranging from 8 inches per year in the far west to 56 inches per year in the far east. The trial sites for the program are in College Station, Lubbock, Overton, and San Antonio. These sites represent major differences in ecological zones near the vast majority of the population centers in the state. All decisions concerning plants selected for trialing or designated for promotion based upon trial site performance are made by the Texas Superstar Executive Board. Members are: B. Pemberton (Chair), Texas AgriLife Research, Overton; M. Arnold, Texas AM T. Davis, Texas AM D. Lineberger, Texas AM C. McKenney, Texas Tech University, Lubbock; D. Rodriguez, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, San Antonio; and L. Stein, Texas AgriLife Extension ServiceUvalde. B. Pemberton directs the trial site at Overton. M. Arnold directs the trial site at College Station. T. Davis serves as an administrative liaison to the Executive Board. D. Lineberger maintains the website for the program. C. McKenney directs the trial site in Lubbock. D. Rodriguez and L. Stein direct the trial site in San Antonio. All of the Executive Board members are engaged in the search for new and unique plants for the program, provide research support when needed for production aspects of a promotion, and are involved in industry relations. In many cases, these efforts have been integrated into teaching and student research programs (Arnold et al., 2001). The Texas Superstar program grew out of regional marketing promotions coordinated by J. Parsons in the San Antonio region in the 1980s. From the beginning, these promotions of plants with proven performance were coordinated with industry to insure an adequate retail supply at the time of the promotion. In 1989, the first statewide marketing promotion was accomplished featuring the Texas bluebonnet. By the mid 1990s, the acronym CEMAP, which stands for Coordinated Education and Marketing Assistance Program, was used for the program. In 1997, the term Texas Superstar was coined by the Executive Board. All promotions were retroactively designated Texas Superstar plants. Texas Superstar was trademarked at the time. Later, the trademark was registered, and the rights were assigned to the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (now Texas AgriLife Research). In 1998, Texas Superstar tags were first used; $0.05 per tag sold was designated for the program. Horticultural Marketing and Printing (Mesquite, TX) helped develop the brand by donating artwork and the patent search. Wal-Mart (Bentonville, AR) purchased the first tags. The tag revenue is used to support all aspects of the program as approved by the Executive Board. In the mid 1990s, D. Lineberger created the Aggie Horticulture website. The CEMAP Program folder was