Over the summer of 2010 Betsy and Renaldo Gates had set up their organic soap company at a storefront just east of Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, OH. Betsy had been making soap as a hobby for many many years because she wanted to make something natural and organic to care for her specific skin type. Her friends and neighbors loved the all natural, locally made product she had created so much that Betsy decided to start selling the soap under her own brand Simply Betsy Company.
Just behind their little shop on Euclid Ave, there was an over grown pocket of land, quietly closed off by the exterior wall of Lake View and some surrounding buildings. The space was once occupied by the Cleveland food co-op, a non profit group that distributed fresh locally grown food to the nearby neighborhoods on the eastside. The Gates family saw the neglected space as a hidden gem, a Secret Garden. They could not have been more right. Simply Betsy Company was given permission to rehab the overgrown garden space and begin growing rosemary, lavender, chamomile, and other essential botanical ingredients used for making their soap. Crews of kids off school for the summer stopped by to clean out the old and build beds for new plants. Jar Caldwell, a friend of mine and a very talented landscape architect, designed the space to include areas for plants to grow, 2 small fire pits, and a small covered platform for musicians to play on the evenings and weekends. The last step was to liven up the industrious brick walls that surrounded the newly formed urban oasis.
I had been discussing the Simply Betsy Company brand with Betsy and Renaldo to pinpoint their unique selling position and find opportunities to reinforce their brand sentiments with their customers. The first element identified was All Natural, and the second Local. These feelings were also recently discussed nearby with the history of the Cleveland Food Co-Op, which formerly occupied the space which was now the Secret Garden. It was clear that there was an opportunity to tie the food co-op’s brand sentiment to Simply Betsy by using the Secret Garden as a platform to visually enforce the association.
Back in the garden, the community and the Gates family looked at the next step, the bare brick walls. Their was an enormous amount of wall space, which could be used as a canvas for murals, possibly telling a story of the space. They contacted a local artist and friend, who agreed to work on a massive mural. I noted that there was in fact a third emotional element emerging in the garden with the platform where musicians would be invited to play, Artistic Showcase. Whatever the murals were going to become, it needed to imbue the three brand traits. All Natural, Local, Artistic Showcase. The resulting combination was a final concept which I called: Ground to Market. I wrote the following script to be given to the mural artist as descriptive imagery for inspiration. I think it turned out pretty amazing, how about you?
“There is a band playing musical instruments that are made of herbs, flowers, fruits, vegetables on the left. At the right side there is a progression of the goods ultimately being used by musicians: herbs, flowers, fruits, vegetables being grown, picked, boxed, delivered unloaded and then finally you see them appear in the quirky scene at the left.
It is a timeline in reverse of western chronological order, to show that what people see first is actually the end result and what is supporting this creative display roots backward through the local supply chain. it includes workers that farm, pick, box, haul, build. It’s a ground to market view of creativity.”
The Not So Secret Grand Opening
On August 27th, 2010 the Secret Garden was opened to the public as a Simply Betsy’s Grand Opening. It was a truly magical evening, with a snapshot of Northeastern Ohio’s modern urban culture. The image above is one of several mural’s which were completed for the celebration (which also doubled as Betsy’s 40th birthday) I created a gig poster (below)and a facebook event banner to create shareable social media content, publicizing the opening. Making posters like this is part of what has become my nearly systematic social media event promotion. Visit Betsy online at www.simplybetsy.com or www.facebook.com/simplybetsy
