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THE SCOPE
As the number one horticultural grower in the country, Costa Farms wanted to elevate their “white label” brand to a consumer-facing brand and launch a disruptive, bold campaign that supported both the corporate growth goals and brand marketing vision.
Roles
Research
Strategy
Consumer Segmentation
Creative Direction
Creative Production
Deliverables
Marketing & Branding Strategy
Branding/Art Direction
Copywriting/Brand Voice
Videography/Photography
Digital Presence
Website Design
Social Media Strategy/Launch
Client
Costa Farms
Company Type
B2C / B2B
Agriculture
Indoor House Plants
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THE CHALLENGE
For over 60 years, Costa Farms has provided major retailers with indoor, blooming, and perennial plants and expanded to become the number one grower of indoor plants in the U.S. The business’s short-term goals required strategizing and quick execution of brand awareness and an aggressive push-pull brand marketing strategy in order to expand the company from $700,000 in sales to $1 billion in two years.
THE SOLUTION
The goal was to create a consumer brand identity that captured the company vision, supported the brand pyramid, and connected with loyal and new consumers by being legible in retail and digital channels. From that, a launch campaign was concepted and produced to prove that Costa Farms grows and brings plants to everyone, regardless of growing experience, allowing self-expression within any interior space.
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Logo Exploration
RESEARCH
COMPETITORS
The house plant market has been trending with younger entrepreneurs resulting in highly curated and well-designed competitors. While Costa Farms is an industry leader and supplier to both small and large businesses, there was a lack of consumer brand awareness. To create brand recognition, loyalty and support from the consumer, we established a voice and emotional connection that supported them.
AUDIENCE
After thorough investigation, we found four audience segmentations that Costa Farms can grow with, speak to, and support. Through data driven research we learned what guides their shopping behaviors, what experiences are important to them, their socioeconomic status, educational background, habits, media consumption and interests.
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BRANDING
Strategy
Our strategy began with defining the branding process, objectives, and expectations. We conducted an extensive competitor evaluation that helped define the “white space” we could own. Combining this with the collected data formed the brand vision, manifesto, and persona.
Identity
The brand identity needed to reflect the strategy, be ownable and recognizable, and communicate a secure and reputable organization – transcending fads and trends.
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The shift in consumer behavior caused by the pandemic magnified the need to deeply research and acutely tune targeted audience segmentation. Through this research, we built a data-driven brand pyramid, position, and marketing strategy.
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CREATIVE
SUPPORTIVE VISUALS
The new brand and surrounding visuals needed to support the consumer through their plant journey. Creating an elevated brand that is also approachable to the “everyman” was established through playful typography, purposeful color application, and a genuine voice.
Photography + video
The photography and videography needed to have life and expression to support the colorful personality of the brand. In order to establish a connection to our consumer, we created carefully curated and eclectic sets that also have a realistic quality reflective of how our audience lives i.e. unmade beds, muffin crumbs, messy kids room etc.
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GROW PLANTS. GROW YOURSELF.
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By creating a balance of highly stylized scenes, colorful curations, and sets with more realism, we’ve purposefully established multiple avenues to create brand awareness, speak to different audience segments, and to express Costa Farms’ personality through photography while being cohesive and thoughtful.
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Through a strategic and purposeful rebrand, there is a space for Costa Farms to lead the industry–BOTH B2B AND B2C.
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WEBSITE
Launching the new brand in the digital space provided Costa Farms a platform to tell their story, share their knowledge, and support their audience. Enhanced user-flow, intuitive functionality, and industry leading visuals gave Costa Farms the opportunity to stand out, reach their consumer, and more importantly, connect with their audience.
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BY UTILIZING RELEVANT, SUPPORTIVE, AND CONSISTENT CONTENT, THE WEBSITE REACHES PLANT PARENTS OF ALL STAGES IN THE GROWING JOURNEY.
FOR CONTINUED GROWTH
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CAMPAIGN
Strategy
The brand archetype was defined as “Everyman” and this consumer launch campaign needed to reflect this without being “everything to everyone.” To accomplish this there needed to be a relationship established between Costa Farms and their consumers creating a community of interaction and collaboration.
Campaign
The theme “All Thumbs Are Green” was created to capture the brand essence and introduce this new consumer brand to the marketplace. It’s Costa Farms’s mission to grow and bring plants to everyone. The campaign was designed to show how plants can be grown by anyone and they can see how plants successfully change an attitude, evolve an interior space, and allow self-expression.
WE LOVE GETTING DIRTY.
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RESULTS
70% New Customers
While Costa Farms has quite a cult following, over 70% of the sales during the summer were attributed to new customers.
Media performance
Digital media assets are performing well above industry standard, in some cases 20x better. With a focus on social channels the brand has generated awareness and effectively reached and converted consumers on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
eCommerce
Since the launch of the new website Costa Farms has seen a 75% increase in sales compared to 2022, accounting for nearly $1.5MM in incremental revenue.
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Credits: The Team
Account Director: Brent Marmo
Strategic Planning Director: Miles Marmo
Creative Director and Designer: Tanya Jacobson
Designer and Producer: Braden Schlegel
Partners
Director of Photography: Chris Durr
Photographer: Braden Schlegel
Post Production: Collin Godspeed
Color: Kellen Witschen
Media Team: WOW Marketing
Website Development: Pixelsmith