Come Back to Earth with Miracle-Gro's Earth Day Activation
In a world dominated by screens and technology, most of us are disconnected from the physical world. Enter: Miracle-Gro, a brand uniquely positioned to help people reset and bring them back to gardening and all the benefits of nature.
With the help of its creative agency Orchard, the brand is launching a new campaign called 'Come Back to Earth' - an invitation to leave behind modern-day stress and reject technology overloads in favour of returning to nature.
“It was a social-first commentary on the shift we’re all feeling - trading digital burnout for the dirt-under-your-fingernails reality of gardening. It went from pitch to reality in 14 days, which required ingenuity, creativity, and a little bit of playful craziness. The team's passion for the work, and a great client relationship, led to the beautiful result,” said executive creative director, Dan Kenneally.
The first seeds of the campaign will take root with a unique, 24-hour social-first activation that will roll out throughout Earth Day (Apr 22nd). Starting at midnight, the activation uses found objects, clever production, and a powerful strategic insight to remind people of the beneficial impact plants can have on our digital-first and systemised lives. The series, a precursor to more 'Come Back to Earth' creative slated for May, leans into the visceral nature of gardening, celebrating the act as a simple, accessible way to re-engage with the world through all the senses. Throughout Earth Day, the brand will release 24 social posts across Instagram, published every hour on the hour. Every post is a suggestion to snap out of the technological world and connect with plants.
“This project was a testament to the flexibility and unique capabilities of Orchard’s in-house production team and its tight-knit collaboration with the creative team,” said head of production, Jenn Pennington.
The activation was produced in a uniquely fast and deeply inventive way by Orchard’s in-house team, without the use of any AI. The team purposefully chose to keep this as real as gardening itself by crafting each scene by hand, matching plants to devices in unique ways, like thyme and a smart watch, for example.
“When Orchard came to us with this Earth Day concept, it was an immediate yes,” said Jason Wolske, brand creative lead from Miracle-Gro. “We love the concept, the way it celebrates the holiday throughout the entire day, and how it teases our upcoming campaign. We’re excited to see how people respond to something so visually unique for the category.”
Going from concept to launch in just two weeks, Orchard conceptualised, shot, and edited the project completely in-house, with its lead maker editor, Cory Souto, shooting the work with sr. art director Ashley Crouch and copywriter Bryan Allman.
In that short time, the Orchard team had to source all 24 of the 'planters' featured in the series, simultaneously conceptualising the best way to style each one to showcase nature overtaking technology.
