People need nature in their lives. According to research, lack of nature, especially for urbanites, is a real problem called Nature Deficit Disorder. Strongbow, made with natural British cider apple varieties, values the need for nature and had recently launched a global Nature Remix campaign.

To establish credibility in the U.S., the PR team identified a partner in non-profit Swale, New York’s first floating food forest. The future of Swale was in limbo, but thanks to Strongbow, its founder and nature artist, Mary Mattingly, was able to realize her vision. Together we transformed a barren barge into a floating apple orchard and perennial garden oasis on the waters of the Hudson River.

The barge docked on the shores of New York City and was accessible to the public to pick fresh produce and enjoy a respite from the urban concrete jungle in a fun and inspiring new way.

There’s no playbook for turning a 5,000 square foot barge into a garden, so we had to be resourceful and flexible. We worked with master gardeners, engineers, Coast Guard and Parks Department to build an 8-foot hill planted with a Strongbow apple orchard. Our vision also required 50 tons of soil, 10 tons of gravel, 10 tons of lava rock and 200 edible plants.

January – Negotiated partnership including Mattingly as spokesperson. Strongbow also cast her in a global TV campaign featuring the evolution of Swale.

March – Time Out kicked off our teaser campaign, also picked up in Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine and more. Renovation continued in preparation for Coast Guard inspection. Mother Nature delayed plans with 8 days of rain.

May – Passed inspection and sailed to Brooklyn Bridge Park for May 3 launch, featuring exclusive unveil on Reuters and media garden party with 50 attendees.

A winning combination of high quality and quantity coverage broke through category clutter and positively impacted business results. From lifestyle and green living to travel and business outlets, we went beyond the traditional to reach millennials via 323 million earned media impressions.

Goal: 200 million earned impressions

Actual: 323 million earned impressions

- Phase 1 Results: 100 million impressions (goal:100 million)

- Phase 2 Results: 169 million impressions (goal: 100 million)

- Bonus Results: 54 million impressions

Quality coverage was strong, with 97 feature stories. Tonality was 100% positive/neutral, with 20% of stories featuring a brand mention in the headline and 18% including a branded visual. The ROI was an unusually strong CPM of 77 cents.

Most importantly, our strategically phased approach worked. For the three months of our pulsed outreach (March 20–May 20), Strongbow sales were up 10.9 %, while total cider category sales were down 6.9%.