Sustainability Project:
Posy Punkette
While working at The Bouqs, I was bothered by the sheer amount of flowers that got thrown away every day. After a conversation with management they agreed to let me take home the discarded flowers – dry them, and sell them.
This turned into a part-time floral business I operate from my sailboat. I have given thousands of dried stems a second life, executed large-scale activations for Dove, Vaseline, Kate Somerville, and have become the preferred floral vendor for Edelman PR.
“You’re throwing all of that away?”
While working at The Bouqs, I was bothered by the sheer amount of flowers that got thrown away every day. After a conversation with management they agreed to let me take home the discarded flowers – dry them, and sell them.
Sustainable Practices
There are two ways to dry flowers.
With Chemicals
Commercial and industrial-scale dried flower production is often marketed as sustainable and eco-friendly due to their reusability, but in reality, it is filled with ecological threats due to the heavy use of chemicals. The drying process involves heat treatment, bleaching, chemical hardening, water-soluble plastic coating, and the application of anti-mold chemicals. The production generates toxic waste runoff that can harm freshwater supplies and marine ecosystems. Additionally, the importation of dried flowers contributes to a large carbon footprint. Once chemically altered, dried flowers cannot be composted, exacerbating waste problems, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change.
The Old Fashioned Way
I dry my flowers the old fashioned way. Hanging them anywhere they can fit on my sailboat, I rely on the salt air and sun to crisp the stems to perfection.
Brand Build
Next, I created and established the Posy Punkette brand. I wanted it to be warm and welcoming. I chose a natural color palette that reflected the brand's sustainability mission. I designed a custom wordmark to feel professional and spunky. To bring the brand to life, I designed several floral arrangements and did my own photoshoot. Finally, to bring the brand to life, I made some motion assets in After Effects.
Shopify
Next, I built out a Shopify site to start selling the arrangements.
You can view it at posypunkette.com
Content Management
Flowers and the marina are visually appealing, making it easy to capture moments throughout my day on the floating flower shop. Whether it's arranging flowers, jumping in the kayak to get a sea lion shot or navigating the water on the Belafonte – I document the behind-the-scenes of living on and running a flower shop on the boat.
I use meta business suite to monitor key metrics such as engagement, reach, conversions, and audience demographics. These insights help me understand what content resonates with my audience, make data-driven decisions, and refine my content strategy. With this information I have honed in on my target audience and created ad strategies with greater influence than a blind post boost.
A clear brand identity provides easy talking points for user generated content that excite the customer. I encourage my customers to share their experiences with my flower shop, I have found this to be a powerful way to build social proof and attract new customers.
I embrace an Avant-garde approach to content creation, which involves being on the scene and capturing spontaneous moments with my flowers first, and the environment second. By being present and documenting real-time experiences, I have created authentic and unique content that stands out from traditional marketing approaches.
This approach caught the eyes of McDonalds, in 2022. My content was picked up and distributed as part of their media feature for the “Can I Get Uhhhhhh” mystery sauce drop Super Bowl ad campaign, which landed in AdWeek.
Partnerships
I have coordinated partnerships with Capri, the local gelato shop, and several jewelry brands to reach new audiences. I coordinated and shot all of the content for the partnerships myself.
Large Scale Activations
The brand and responsible positioning have brought me numerous opportunities for large-scale activations. After successfully executing installations for Dove, Vaseline, and Kate Somerville, I have established myself as the preferred floral vendor for Edelman PR.
Impact
Responsibly making the world a little bit happier with every flower.