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Strategic + Creative Approach

Simplify Then Amplify

At Planet, we’re driven by a basic approach. Find the simplest truths about a brand, and then inject them into plans and solutions that drive results. We think this lines up well with what you’ve identified as a pressing need: to evolve and clarify your brand platforms — across both trade and consumer audiences — in a way that drives relevance today and supports growth into the future.

While it would be easy to come up with a laundry list of tactics to support the brand, we know that without a solid strategic platform and brand promise, they would amount to little more than a straw house. A collection of pieces and parts that are shown to growers, retailers and consumers, which only serve to confuse everyone about Bailey and your family of brands.

When confused, buyers inevitably default to lowest price or convenience.

But.

When Bailey leads with a clear, consistent purpose — one rooted in your values and amplified through powerful creative — everything begins to click. You earn distinction, not just attention. You build preference, not just awareness. You make it easier for a grower, garden center or homeowner to understand what you stand for and why it matters to them.

That’s where we come in. Our process is straightforward: First, simplify. Then, amplify.

In the Simplify phase, we work with your team to clarify your Fundamental Belief — the brand promise at the heart of Bailey and each of your consumer brands. This involves listening deeply, analyzing trends, mapping audiences and making strategic choices about how you show up across retail, trade and digital ecosystems.

In the Amplify phase, we turn that clarity into campaigns that move the needle. We develop platforms that can stretch across brands and audiences, crafting messaging and creative that build internal belief, trade enthusiasm and consumer desire. Importantly, this isn’t just external-facing. Real brand power comes when every employee, grower and partner understands and lives the brand promise — from the nursery floor to the shelf at Lowe’s.

We don’t just create marketing — we create alignment. And from there, we build momentum.

The Simplify Phase

Our Simplify phase takes us from collecting and analyzing data into surfacing insights that inform a cohesive brand platform — culminating in a Fundamental Belief that serves as the springboard for all strategic and creative work.

For Bailey, this means aligning internal and external narratives across both your parent brand and consumer-facing platforms. Whether we're clarifying the voice of Endless Summer® or refining Bailey’s corporate messaging for trade audiences, this phase ensures we’re building on a foundation that’s not just differentiated, but durable.

The Planet Propaganda Simplify process will work to achieve the following:

  • Gain an understanding of the audiences and competitive landscape
  • Define the brand platform, including: brand elements (people, product, personality and point of view), positioning, value proposition, core values, core traits, manifesto + Fundamental Belief (brand promise) and audience persona(s)
  • Lay a strategic brand foundation to direct all future creative execution
  • Identify key business implications and strategic recommendations (internal and external) to future-proof the brand and ensure cohesion across your ecosystem

Simplify Process Stages

  • Data — Gather research, stakeholder input and audience insights
  • Knowledge — Synthesize learnings into patterns and opportunities
  • Wisdom — Extract the deeper narrative and emotional drivers
  • Fundamental Belief — Define the core brand promise that everything else is built on

This process is as much about focus as it is about insight. Because when the story is clear, the execution becomes exponentially more powerful. Especially in a complex, multi-brand structure like Bailey’s.

Simplify: Data

The first step of simplifying, oddly enough, is collecting as much information as possible. Truthfully, it’s a process that’s already well underway. Through the RFP, our site visit and our own primary research, we’ve already accumulated a sizable trove of information. If selected as your marketing partner, we would formalize this process and kick our learning into high gear as follows:

1) Stakeholder Interviews

We need to know everything about Bailey as a business, and no one knows the business better than you. That’s why we kick off our company-focused research by performing a discovery session and series of stakeholder interviews with members of your team, typically in leadership roles across different departments within the company, from marketing to sales to operations and beyond. We want to hear firsthand from the people driving the vision of Bailey, and the people charged with executing against that vision.

Additionally, we may consider broadening the interviewee group to include team members outside of leadership. In your case, this could include internal creatives or customer-facing roles that can provide additional insight on your day-to-day business realities. Finally, we also typically perform a few interviews with external stakeholders, such as growers, retailers, consumers or other entities that regularly interface with you. This will help us get a unique perspective on Bailey from an outsider’s view.

Typically, Planet interviews 10+ stakeholders, with the goal of understanding:

  • How you position yourselves currently/against competitors
  • Anticipated growth areas — brand, category and audience
  • Core audience groups/perceptions
  • Recent Bailey initiatives
  • Brand concerns across the full brand architecture
  • The collective vision going forward

We’ve also found that this phase can work as a single, group-oriented, all-day immersion session to add an extra degree of internal agreement and buy-in. If selected, we can work with you to determine which approach would work best for the included stakeholders and the Bailey culture.

2) Category Audit

This includes gathering and analyzing any of your key competitors’ materials that we can get our hands on. We’ll be studying the landscape to surface category insights related to things like:

  • Category definition
  • Competitive landscape
  • History of the category
  • Emerging category trends
  • Technology disruptions
  • Related categories

We’ll also segment out and do a research deep-dive into the distinct dynamics of the trade and consumer horticultural markets. We’ll broaden our lens to consider how these categories intersect with abject spaces, like outdoor living, home decor and wellness. We’ll wrap up this phase by putting it all together to give us both the broadest and the most precise category knowledge to apply to Bailey’s brand strategy.

3) Customer Analysis

In the case of Bailey, we know there are two core customer groups: trade partners and consumers. Each brings distinct needs, expectations and motivations.

On the trade side, we’ll explore what drives growers, garden centers, mass merchants, network partners and landscape professionals to choose (and champion) Bailey. And on the consumer side, we’ll dig into the mindset of modern gardeners. From the Casual Gardener and the Eco-Conscious Homeowner to the Urban Hydrangea Enthusiast, we’ll explore how different personas engage with the category.

We’ll start by looking at each group individually, hunting for answers to questions like these (as relevant)…

  • Who are they? Who aren’t they?
  • How do they feel about the product?
  • How do they feel about the brand?
  • How do they feel about the category?
  • How do they feel about life?
  • How do they live their lives?
  • How can we make their life better?
  • How do they see themselves?
  • What do they value?
  • What do they do?
  • What are their motivations?
  • What do they eat, drink, watch, listen to, cringe at?
  • How do they buy?

We’ll be learning about them just like we learned about you: we’ll talk to them. In one-on-one interviews. Digital Q & A’s. Focus groups. Group chats. At your locations. In the garden aisle. Anywhere they want to talk to us. This is the most vital part of the process, because a brand doesn’t get to decide the truth about its products and services, and an agency doesn’t get to, either. It’s your CUSTOMERS who decide your truth, and we need to hear it straight from them.

And we’re not just going to talk to them. We’re going to listen. We’ll do social listening across the platforms, forums and spaces where our audiences spend their time. For trade partners, that might mean LinkedIn discussions, industry webinars, grower forums and trade publication comment threads. For consumers, it’s Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit and blogs. We’ll read the reviews they leave, on Bailey brands and competitors alike. We’ll follow the comment sections, the plant hauls, the garden tours and even the frustrated posts about what didn’t grow. Wherever they’re talking about plants, brands or buying decisions, we’ll be listening. Because that’s where the real truths come out.

Once we’ve done this for each audience segment as a standalone, we can start comparing and contrasting what we found. How are behaviors and attitudes different between the various groups? Are there places where they are the same? Where do their emotional states and their purchase motivations diverge or intersect across each of Bailey’s core offerings?

By the end, we’ll have a clear understanding of how to position Bailey’s brand and products to each group, and to all groups. We’ll know, straight from your customers themselves, how to make your brand both modern and timeless. That sounds like a paradox, but it’s what all the best brands are. And it’s what Planet will position Bailey to be so that we can both retain your core and earn the more.

4) Cultural Considerations

We save Culture for last because it’s often the most surprising, thought-provoking and revealing part, and it can mean many things. For example, when you hear Planet discussing our Culture research, we may be talking about…

  • What’s in pop culture?
  • What’s in the news?
  • What’s new in tech?
  • Regional/global trends?
  • Cultural attitudes?
  • Subcultures?
  • Niche cultures?
  • Arts & culture?
  • The culture of [insert thing]:
  • Wellness.
  • Self-Expression.
  • Plants.
  • Outdoor Spaces.
  • Home.
  • Whatever.

There are lot of rabbit holes to go down in this phase, all of them interesting, not all of them useful. Fortunately, Planet’s Strategy Team are experts at identifying and understanding the cultural trends and influences that are worth paying attention (and that your competition probably isn’t) to deliver a brand positioning that is truly distinctive in the market. We distinguish signal from noise. When it comes to how we set up Bailey to show up in culture, think of it like a car: You can drive culture forward, or you could ride shotgun and try to coast on the cultural influence of others, or you can suck tailpipe. Planet’s goal is to make Bailey a Cultural Driver, and never a Tailpipe-Sucker.

Just for fun, some examples of favorite recent cultural rabbit holes we’ve gone down (these are all real, by the way, and could be useful to you)....

  • …the soft life…
  • …plantfluencers and the home-as-haven economy…
  • …eco-anxiety…
  • …porches as community hubs…
  • …nature as self-care…
  • …rise of anti-perfectionism in home aesthetics…
  • …plant parenthood…
  • …seasonal maximalism…
  • …nature nostalgia narrative…

Simplify: Knowledge

During Knowledge, our job becomes analyzing all the data — culling, compressing, removing dissonance and finding the connections between the brand and world around it. We have three areas we identify or resolve in this phase.

Black Holes

Any brand might have black holes or areas where missing information requires further investigation. Though rare, sometimes resolving this hole requires additional research to fill in gaps. Other times a discussion, further desk research or a conversation to build consensus is needed so we can comfortably move forward with reasonable assumptions.

Gray Areas

Gray Areas are aspects of the brand that are ill-defined. Areas that lack consensus. Areas that need to be ironed out and agreed upon before we can move on. Planet will work with you and your team to clearly identify and eliminate these Gray Areas.

White Space

Planet will seek to identify the White Space within the industry that Bailey, and only Bailey, can own. A space that the competitors cannot claim. A space that you can own today and expand over time that is a reflection of who you are.

Having sifted through all the data, eliminated gray/black areas and identified white space, Planet will then be able to distill the most valuable insights and patterns in which to build the brand platform and Fundamental Belief. This outcome will impact the organization both internally and externally.

Simplify: Wisdom

We believe a strong brand combines four elements:

  • Product: What you do
  • Personality: How you are
  • Point of View: What you believe
  • People: Who are you for

The better these components are defined, and the more closely they’re aligned, the stronger the brand.

Based on the opportunities in the Data + Knowledge stages of our work, we’ll work to define your four P’s as the core of the brand platform. Ultimately, we will utilize these elements to build out the unique profile of your brand and guide your Fundamental Belief, all through the lens of the customers you serve. We will make sure they are aligned and in balance to effectively position Bailey for immediate needs and the future.

In this phase we will also identify areas of the business that will be impacted by this platform both internally and externally. Some areas will require deeper consideration and pivots, while others may benefit from doubling down on a service, product or operational method. In all key areas of the business, we will make a recommendation on how to successfully move forward based on our findings.

Simplify: Fundamental Belief

The entire simplification process culminates in the Fundamental Belief. And it's the Fundamental Belief, too, that serves as the launching point for amplification.

To clearly define it, the Fundamental Belief is the rallying cry that defines what you stand for at the core; the promise you're making to your audience. It should be a short statement - ideally a single sentence. Ultimately it serves as the prime motivation for all your brand actions and an anchor point for all communications to follow.

Our goal is to address the following as simply as possible:

  • How can Bailey stand apart from competitors - Spring Meadow Nursery, Monrovia, ColorChoice, among others - in the minds of trade and consumer customers?
  • What is the thread that connects your parent company and your consumer-facing brands?

The Amplify Phase

The truth alone won’t set you free. Following the Simplify process, our focus becomes bringing to life your brand platform and reinvigorated story in a way that positions Bailey for continued growth. Your brand identify is where you could have the greatest immediate impact in recalibrating your external identity, clearly signaling an evolution. We’re very sensitive to the ramifications of a change, politically and logistically. Rarely have we run into a scenario where there was a “perfect” time to do it. The question isn’t if there will be barriers, but rather what it will take to overcome them and how that weighs against the potential long-term benefits. Part of our role is to help identify any challenges and provide guidance on how to navigate through them. Almost without fail, if properly handled, it’s worth it. While each brand will have it’s own unique set of needs, which we’d come to learn more about during Simplify, deliverables would likely include:

1. Brand identity updates:

  • Consistency between employee-facing and consumer-facing touchpoints

2. Strategic rollout plan:

  • Internal: Leadership, employees, labs, etc.
  • External: licensees, retailers, network partners, mass merchants, independent garden centers, growers, prospects, current customers, etc.

3. Campaign concepting & production:

4. And Beyond...

Brand Identity Updates

If we collectively decide an aesthetic refresh is needed, Planet will concept logo designs based on your input, the strategy work and relevant inspiration.

Once complete, we’ll create a brand style guide, so no matter the author or creator, Bailey can present a consistent image and personality. This guide will create rules and guidelines so the brand knows how to look, sound, feel and behave. The style guide will include content such as:

  • Logo usage/applications
  • Font families
  • Color palette
  • Photography treatment and graphics
  • Textures
  • Tone guidelines
  • Etc.

Additional internal and external touchpoints updates could include, but are not limited to:

  • Packaging
  • Collateral
  • Website(s)
  • Social
  • Merchandise
  • Etc.

Strategic Rollout Plan

Our first goal in the rollout is to inform all relevant audiences of the change, ensuring that communication is clear and intentional. Second, we want to build believers who understand and internalize what Bailey is all about and who take pride in being a part of its growth. The plan should deliver a prioritized system for introducing the new brand to different audiences. The most successful brands we’ve worked with invest in communication efforts tailored to both internal and external stakeholders.

  1. Internally: Here our focus would be educating employees on what sets Bailey apart, as well as giving them tools to help explain the difference to every customer they meet. We know from experience that this doesn’t just mean putting a stack of logo-stamped documents or a box of display signage in their hands and calling it a day. This means creating tools that are engaging, memorable and motivating — things that feel less like work and more like stuff they’d like to look at off-the-clock. Branded incentives or rewards can also help sweeten the deal.
  2. Externally: We see the needs on the consumer side as being similar to those on the employee side — clear, consistent, engaging messages that stem from the same Bailey value proposition. We will develop a plan that connects the dots in consumers’ minds while also connecting to all internal efforts.

Communications Alignment + Media Collaboration

Before we move into campaign concepting and production, we believe in bridging strategy and execution through tight alignment across all communications functions — including media. This ensures our strategic insights and brand platform are not only creatively expressed, but also contextually amplified in the right channels.

In this phase, we’d collaborate with Kinetic319 to calibrate messaging frameworks to real-world audience behaviors and media consumption patterns. We don’t just hand off a brand idea and hope for the best — we ensure it’s built to perform.

This step includes:

  • Cross-functional alignment sessions with client, media, strategy and creative leads
  • Mapping key messages to specific channels and the audience moments most likely to drive engagement
  • Building feedback loops between comms planning and media buy performance indicators
  • Identifying “ownable moments” and context-specific media environments that allow the brand truth to shine

By aligning early, we ensure the creative is not only breakthrough, but behaviorally sound and media-ready, giving the Amplify phase the full runway it needs to drive impact.

Campaign Concepting & Production

Building directly on the brand strategy and integrating seamlessly with the Rollout Plan, Planet will concept and create a campaign to communicate the changes and generate excitement around the brand. Deliverables could range from big brand acts, to smaller tactical pieces:

Internally:

  • Launch event
  • Swag materials
  • Employee onboarding materials / welcome kit
  • Employee recognition materials (e.g. anniversaries, awards, appreciation/birthday gifts, retirement celebration, etc.)

Externally:

  • Website(s) strategy & content creation
  • Retail displays & other in-store applications
  • Digital ads
  • Print ads
  • Packaging
  • TV spots & video
  • Social strategy & content creation
  • OOH
  • Etc.

And Beyond…

If we’re doing our jobs, the work we complete through Simplify/Amplify will be the first step towards establishing your brand legacy. Future work together could include a combination of long-term brand building efforts and short-term messaging to achieve specific goals.

Short term messaging: Can be limited to a campaign and be more immediate action-oriented. ROI could look like shorter term sales growth.

Long term messaging: Should be highly differentiated from competitors, convey personality and point-of-view. ROI could look like brand recognition and influence within the industry, brand loyalty, having a distinctive reputation and clearly-owned corner of market share.

What's Next

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