Qualitative and quantitative data

We conducted qualitative research by reading thousands of Instagram comments and by delving into the social media plant communities. We also spoke with tons of potential customers at plant shops.

We analyzed the costs of plants and pots to determine the demand for certain products, and to establish a product offering that would differentiate Desk Plants.

Customer concerns

When talking with prospective customers, they expressed a few core concerns with buying plants, especially online:

• Being “black-thumbers” and feeling like they “kill EVERYTHING,” so why bother buying a plant?

• Not knowing how to take care of plants

• Poor customer service with existing plant shops (and plants dead on arrival)

• Messy and environmentally damaging shipping

“Hard-to-Kill”

To tackle the first concern, we discovered that Desk Plants could focus ONLY on low-maintenance plants, thereby increasing customer success and increasing return rate! We developed the slogan “Hard to Kill Potted Plants” since it clearly speaks to the popular problem plant parents (say that five times fast) have of killing all their plants (because they are purchasing the wrong ones).

The second problem was resolved by simplifying plant ownership into a small care card that was quick to skim, and introducing the concept of plant support. Desk Plants vowed to help plant owners during their plant journey to establish customer trust.

Packaging

With e-commerce trending to be the largest form of revenue for Desk Plants, the stigma of competitors’ poor customer service (messy packaging and dying plants) presented the biggest opportunity to separate Desk Plants. Since packaging would be a first impression of the brand, we took this opportunity to review all the major competitor’s boxes, inserts, and presentations. We created a takeaway list for Desk Plants to implement, and after reviewing costs versus impact, Desk Plants’ packaging came out flawlessly.

Communication and Authenticity

Social media content related to plants often presents Instagram-perfect plants, not acknowledging that they are living things and not always perfect! We decided to reply to comments requesting plant advice on these picturesque posts using the Desk Plants account, offering suggestions and swooping in on competition who had left their customers unanswered! We realized that rarely do the large competitors in the space voluntarily interact with existing customers! Authenticity, communication, and fun were clearly missing with existing plant shops. To bridge this gap, in addition to reaching out to potential customers, we created fun original content that was interactive.

Conducting research, analyzing Desk Plants’ primary competition, and interacting with hundreds of consumers taught us a lot about consumers in the space. We categorized Desk Plants’ primary shoppers into four categories to help with sales strategy, to identify product selection, and ultimately define the brand.

In general, we learned that for all four personas:

• Plants are almost always attractive to consumers (the pot is especially key)

• They enjoy the brand and the shopping experience

• They like how plants add life to an environment and help clean the air

• They don’t know where to go for help with plants

• They value quality over price

• They default to Home Depot and Lowes even though their plants are often unhealthy

• They don’t know much about alternatives to big box stores or local plant shops

We took all of this information and ran with the “hard-to-kill” slogan. Every element of the brand was positioned around simplicity, but not minimalism.

The plant industry lacked a colorful IKEA in a world of minimalist Restoration Hardwares; We analyzed color schemes that would represent honesty and joy, and we evaluated typefaces, photography styles, and illustration styles.

We landed on a bold and bright aesthetic, which made sense for the brand and the customer experience.