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Farm Fresh, Brand Ready
3 Plays1 minute ago
In this flavorful and thoughtful episode, Alexis, Brett, and Ray kick things off with a nostalgic ode to summer fruits—watermelon, cantaloupe, and peaches—and the sensory memories they stir. The team shares light-hearted stories that transition seamlessly into a deeper conversation about branding, authenticity, and storytelling in agriculture.
What does it mean to create a brand that feels both personal and professional? How do farmers and producers balance authenticity with marketing strategy? The hosts explore how their own approaches to branding—whether through daily social media posts or curated seasonal photo shoots—reveal not just products, but values and lived experiences.
With examples from Wild Roots and reflections on photography, audience perception, and storytelling structure, this episode offers practical insights for anyone trying to craft a compelling brand in the food and farming space. Whether you’re a seasoned grower or a budding entrepreneur, the message is clear: your story matters—and how you tell it makes all the difference.
Marketing & Promotion Resources
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: hortculturepodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
Watermelon and Summer Refreshments
00:00:17
Alexis
Hello, friends. My question for you today is, have you gorged yourself on watermelon to the point of making yourself sick yet, or are you normal?
00:00:20
Brett
Whoa.
00:00:20
Plant People
Coming in hot.
00:00:24
Plant People
No. No. Nope. Nope.
00:00:28
Brett
No.
00:00:28
Plant People
I have not.
00:00:28
Alexis
yeah
00:00:29
Plant People
Now, cantaloupe.
00:00:29
Alexis
So, Ray's normal. Okay.
00:00:31
Plant People
Cantaloupe is a different story, but not watermelon. I'm not not a watermelon person, so.
00:00:34
Alexis
Oh.
00:00:35
Brett
Not a big watermelon person?
00:00:35
Alexis
Okay.
00:00:36
Plant People
modern Okay.
00:00:36
Alexis
Well, meow we could just say melon in general. I feel like melon...
00:00:39
Plant People
Melon. Melon. That covers a lot of ground. So, yeah, I'm good with that.
00:00:43
Alexis
I, uh, yeah, we've been getting like a watermelon a week and it doesn't make it through like the weekend. And Tyler's like, why are we? And I'm like, because it's watermelon season and we just sit there and we just eat it.
00:00:55
Alexis
we just, just, I mean, it's not probably best, but it's also delightful.
00:00:59
Brett
Wait, so...
00:01:01
Alexis
So.
00:01:01
Plant People
I used to eat a lot of watermelon. When we grew those, like ah beside the tobacco patch, we had, I don't know, a big, huge, long strip and we grew, it was just wide enough for watermelon. So we grew them. We didn't really sell them or anything, but then I would just like go and crack one open like an animal and just had a spoon in the truck dash.
00:01:10
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:01:16
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:01:16
Plant People
And I would just, that was my watermelon spoon.
00:01:17
Alexis
Uh-huh. Yeah.
00:01:18
Plant People
It was a big like tablespoon thing.
00:01:19
Alexis
hu
00:01:20
Plant People
And I'll just scoop out the watermelon and eat it.
00:01:22
Alexis
yeah
00:01:23
Plant People
And I remember that as like the little sweet baby watermelons or whatever.
00:01:25
Brett
but so So you're telling me that you're not a watermelon guy, but then you immediately have a story about having a watermelon spoon.
00:01:31
Plant People
I am telling you that and like green beans growing up, I used to be a green bean guy and I used to be a watermelon guy to a great extent, maybe in excess.
00:01:37
Brett
Okay.
00:01:42
Brett
Wow. Okay.
00:01:42
Plant People
ah But now the only thing I've never gotten tired of like that, that I loved growing up and I still love this very day, for some reason, tomatoes stuck. I ate lots of fresh tomatoes, but for some reason I still love tomatoes, but, and pork rinds.
00:01:50
Brett
Hmm.
00:01:53
Alexis
And pork rinds.
00:01:55
Plant People
Yes. There is no immunity to pork rinds. There's no resistance.
00:01:57
Alexis
Vianney sausages.
00:01:59
Plant People
Yes, and Vienna sausages, the Appalachian treats, we like to call them.
00:02:01
Brett
the Vianney's.
00:02:02
Plant People
but ah bye bye Thank you for pronouncing that correctly, Brett.
00:02:02
Brett
Well, why?
00:02:05
Plant People
I love that pronunciation.
00:02:05
Brett
No problem.
00:02:07
Plant People
That was dead on. But but watermelon, I don't know.
00:02:08
Brett
Thank you.
00:02:09
Plant People
ah ah Jennifer doesn't understand. She says, how can you not like want a big watermelon? I'll go by and have a you know ah a little slice or whatever.
00:02:16
Brett
A slice.
00:02:16
Plant People
But yeah, just a little bit, a little nibble.
00:02:16
Brett
You'll dabble.
00:02:19
Brett
Ray, you are you're so wholesome.
00:02:19
Plant People
But yeah.
00:02:23
Brett
you the wild travails The wild travails of excess of your youth entailed green beans and watermelons.
00:02:24
Plant People
Wow.
00:02:31
Plant People
Yeah.
00:02:31
Brett
And you just said, you know what? I lived, I learned, and now I'm just going to have a slice.
00:02:35
Plant People
Yeah. yeah I'm just, I'm going to moderate that.
00:02:37
Brett
I love that.
00:02:38
Plant People
It's not like peaches. I'm not going to go overboard on that. I'm just going to and now it's more in moderation.
00:02:42
Alexis
Thank you.
00:02:45
Plant People
Alexis is eating them out of the field apparently. So.
00:02:47
Alexis
No, I, listen, is when I am so sweaty that it just feels like I've been in a pool, but I still have clothes on, which is a horrible feeling.
00:02:48
Brett
Yeah, mind and all.
00:02:55
Plant People
Yeah.
00:02:56
Alexis
And I come in and I'm cranky and I'm hot and I'm dripping and pulling a like cold, already cut up watermelon out of the fridge and just basically in the refrigerator light, just eating as much as I can stand is like, that is my Roman empire.
00:02:56
Plant People
Yeah.
00:03:05
Plant People
well
00:03:12
Alexis
Yeah.
00:03:12
Plant People
That is your pinnacle of consumption. I mean, it is.
00:03:15
Alexis
Yeah, because I'm like, I'm hydrating myself.
00:03:15
Brett
Much much like
00:03:16
Plant People
I've made
00:03:17
Alexis
It's mostly water
Peach Season and Personal Anecdotes
00:03:19
Alexis
anyways.
00:03:19
Plant People
myself.
00:03:20
Alexis
So, and then my belly is full and I am just am cooling down.
00:03:23
Brett
ah there's no You don't have to defend it. There's no there's no moral judgment here.
00:03:26
Plant People
i've made my
00:03:27
Alexis
and
00:03:27
Plant People
I've made myself sick on watermelon before, got violently ill because too much.
00:03:28
Brett
It's just...
00:03:28
Alexis
like
00:03:31
Alexis
Yes. Oh.
00:03:32
Plant People
Like I didn't know when I was like very young, you shouldn't eat the rind. Like you shouldn't eat the green. It was so good.
00:03:36
Alexis
Uh.
00:03:38
Plant People
Yeah. Maybe a little bit too much of the white into the rind. So yeah.
00:03:41
Alexis
Oh.
00:03:42
Brett
Wait.
00:03:42
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:43
Brett
you're the I don't know that I've had it where it's the rind is good. Is that what you...
00:03:47
Plant People
No, it wasn't good. I just kept eating.
00:03:48
Brett
okay. You were just on audio. You were just...
00:03:50
Alexis
I just didn't stop.
00:03:51
Plant People
Yeah.
00:03:51
Brett
um
00:03:51
Plant People
Yeah.
00:03:51
Alexis
It's a Pac-Man.
00:03:52
Plant People
yeah Yeah. I just kept going and you know i was like, Yeah, my nose would get sore because I would like eat the watermelon and my nose would kind of yeah rub the rub the the watermelon. But ah talking about um guilty pleasures off the vine, Brett, what's yours that you just can't resist when it's in season?
00:04:10
Brett
ah Well, we with if this is well-trod territory that I, and in print the past, had to ask, how many peaches might one eat in a reasonable setting?
00:04:21
Brett
And then, like, where do we reach a, you know, worrisome a wearisome amount?
00:04:22
Plant People
Safely.
00:04:25
Brett
And so peaches, for me, are one of those, like...
00:04:27
Plant People
Yeah.
00:04:28
Brett
definitive in season. um
00:04:31
Plant People
god
00:04:31
Brett
the bear that comes across the fruit tree and just goes ham until they pass out under the tree. And, um, that's me.
00:04:39
Plant People
That's you.
00:04:41
Brett
That's me. Um, that's,
00:04:42
Plant People
You think it's the the fleeting nature of peaches? Because peaches aren't something you can just sit out for weeks at a time. and I mean, is that it or just the the sheer sugar and the taste or all the things?
00:04:53
Brett
it's all, i think it's the, I think it is the, the, um, short period of time of availability, that scarcity kind of
00:04:54
Plant People
I love it.
Branding and Personal Stories
00:05:01
Brett
vibe.
00:05:01
Plant People
Yeah.
00:05:02
Brett
i think it is the flavor in the, and, and all of that. But I also like, I just have a really strong associations of peaches.
00:05:04
Plant People
Um.
00:05:08
Brett
when I was a kid, when my mom was really, really liked peaches and and every summer we would have some, and it was a, you know, we had canned peaches year round.
00:05:12
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:05:16
Brett
And so we, that was ah probably one of the fruits, fruits that I ate the most in general. Um, but, Man, and it's also like you know like and like a good apple, it doesn't get soft like that.
00:05:31
Brett
It tastes really good, but like you don't ah ideally you don't want to have a soft apple.
00:05:31
Alexis
Yeah.
00:05:35
Brett
You want it to be have a little crunch to it, a little firmness.
00:05:36
Alexis
Right.
00:05:38
Brett
But there's just something about the like texture of that soft peach as it is in that perfect ripe moment. I don't know. it's a I'm a romantic.
00:05:46
Plant People
Like nature's candy.
00:05:46
Brett
What can I say?
00:05:48
Plant People
I mean, the peaches are the romantic fruit.
00:05:48
Alexis
I'm romantic.
00:05:48
Brett
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:51
Plant People
So there you go. I'm trying not to use the word sensual here because we don't want to go there, but I did.
00:05:53
Alexis
Okay, I can see that.
00:05:53
Brett
Yeah, that's what the emoji suggests.
00:05:59
Plant People
i went there.
00:06:00
Brett
Yeah.
00:06:00
Plant People
I mean, I could see that with peaches. I mean, there's nothing. I mean, there's not too many people that you'll talk to that say, ugh, peaches. No.
00:06:06
Brett
Yeah, like the song goes, know what I mean, peaches and cream.
00:06:07
Alexis
um My husband does not like peaches.
00:06:09
Plant People
Does not. What?
00:06:10
Alexis
he does not He does not like peach flavor. He does not like peaches. no big Big negative from him.
00:06:15
Brett
Well, Tyler doesn't, Tyler doesn't strike me as a I'm using the word capital R.
00:06:15
Plant People
Is there some backstory?
00:06:19
Brett
So in the sense of like the, the poets, he doesn't strike me as a, as a romantic. He strikes me as a pragmatist.
00:06:28
Brett
Not, not in the like Valentine's day flowers, but more in the like, you know, carpe diem, you know, Oh captain, my captain.
00:06:28
Alexis
That would...
00:06:33
Alexis
and He's not in his soft girl era, that's for sure. No.
00:06:38
Brett
He's in his what?
00:06:39
Alexis
He's not in his soft girl era, that's for sure.
00:06:42
Plant People
um okay
00:06:43
Brett
Is that past or that's forthcoming?
00:06:46
Alexis
i think I think it's coming. I think it's i think it's on its way.
00:06:48
Brett
I can feel it.
00:06:48
Plant People
Waiting for the slow erosion of time.
00:06:49
Brett
I can feel it.
00:06:50
Plant People
We'll
00:06:52
Brett
Well, I'm, I'm kind of curious.
00:06:52
Alexis
His soft girl era.
00:06:54
Brett
So we're, as we, as we think about, as we ah workshop Tyler's rebrand, um I'm curious, I'm curious it's from you all.
00:06:59
Plant People
work on this.
00:07:01
Brett
And Alexis, you've, you have ah done the homework ahead of time. So you have a little bit of a cheat, so maybe you have to make it harder on yourself. But Ray, if you were to build a brand, let's say around Ray, would
00:07:09
Alexis
Thank you.
00:07:15
Brett
not Not so much like a personal brand in like the cheesy ah business way, like business sense where it's like I'm promoting myself.
00:07:15
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:07:21
Brett
But if you were selling stuff and you yourself were going to be a key part of that marketing, what do you think would be some of the elements that would be a part of that?
00:07:27
Plant People
well
00:07:32
Plant People
If I'm part of the process that I would want that to be front.
00:07:32
Brett
Like, would it be a would be professional? Would it be down home?
00:07:35
Plant People
and
00:07:37
Brett
Would it be... into Yeah, yeah.
00:07:38
Plant People
No, I mean, as far as the general vibe check of that, it would probably be somewhere in the middle. I would wouldn't want it to be sterile. Not that I'm associated in professionalism with sterility, but I would probably have it to where
00:07:47
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:07:54
Plant People
my or my family's involvement in the process of whatever I was doing. I would want that to be part of the story because i think at least from my own personal experiences, i want myself to be part of the mythology of the product.
00:08:09
Plant People
I wanted it to be part of the origin story. And I think that's a very powerful thing. And I've always thought, I've thought a lot about that.
00:08:17
Brett
What is that?
00:08:17
Plant People
And that's something that we've
00:08:17
Brett
what what are What are the mythologies there for you?
00:08:21
Plant People
Uh, if it's a, if it's an operation that has some kind of family underpinnings or some story that's interesting there, i want to say that up front, you know, first and foremost, you have to have a great product that, you know, that's kind of, we're just assuming that, but as far as the things beyond the product, I like to know the story of things.
00:08:40
Plant People
Uh, that's the sociologist part of my brain that wants to, I mean, you know, at a time where products are readily available, ah Why do people shop and purchase what they do?
00:08:51
Plant People
And even the big brands, it seems like some of the more contemporary research on big brands, you know these huge multinational brands, it's like, well, people want story and connectivity, even on those brands. But if you're a local brand, that's something yeah that you have built in.
00:09:07
Plant People
And I that I'd want that to be part of the story of why I'm doing, how I'm doing, and how that translates into my end product and the philosophy of why I'm doing it.
00:09:07
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:09:19
Plant People
um I think that's just something that you can do if you're a smaller operation. That would be my angle, would be more towards the the the roots end of things, for lack of a better term.
00:09:24
Brett
Mm-hmm.
Marketing Strategies and Consistency
00:09:29
Plant People
I don't know, Brett, what would that be called? But more kind of the ground level stuff.
00:09:33
Brett
Yeah, an authenticity, a certain sense of place and connection and legacy and time passing.
00:09:35
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would tend to to veer towards that.
00:09:39
Brett
but those Well, that that that tends to do well in ah in Kentucky.
00:09:41
Plant People
Also, yeah.
00:09:44
Brett
they They love that.
00:09:46
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:09:46
Brett
You're from somewhere else and you want to start something new?
00:09:46
Plant People
Yeah.
00:09:49
Brett
Well, we'll see about that. But a long-term route? Yeah, that that plays well.
00:09:54
Plant People
But I know that, you know, if you have a product, then the other side of my brain is over there, which is not the story that you would tell, but it's like the mechanics behind, you know, the who, what, when, where, and the pricing and all that's got to be in place. I realized that, but you know, I like, I like to know the story behind things.
00:10:10
Plant People
Yeah.
00:10:10
Brett
Hmm. Yeah. So we we um had a, we we do this presentation or this this set of ah presentations through our CCD team. um And we did one this spring and we're going to hopefully do another one this fall, a six week series. And we just talk about marketing and marketing for all is what the name of the general program is, but this one's kind of a more intensive one.
00:10:31
Brett
And um we talk about a variety of things. We talk about photography, we talk about graphic design, web design, selling online, but also we we try to start with this conversation around brand.
00:10:43
Brett
And I come back to it over and over again, and it's a difficult and I realize it's a difficult question, but it's kind of like the fundamental one, the one that you kind of got to answer to some extent get, get a certain sense of what that looks like upfront so that everything else that you build works with that. And it kind of helps to promote that, that same message.
00:11:01
Brett
So that's, that's kind of why I'm, I'm curious, Alexis, do you either from the formation of wild roots or from just, if you were going to start a third, fourth, fifth thing that you were going to spin on, I've lost count at this point, but if you were going to, you were going to, you know, no, no longer sleep at all anymore and, and, uh,
00:11:21
Brett
Would there be a different, you know, a way of branding it that you would like to explore that maybe either you can't do within your Wild Roots stuff or?
00:11:31
Alexis
Yeah, I really, I mean,
00:11:32
Brett
what What is the Wild Roots brand, I guess, maybe first?
00:11:36
Alexis
um I like to think about it as like relatable professionalism. I mean, that's the way like in my mind how I do it, but I don't know if it's always received that way. So, so you know, it's not that we don't ever tell our story or, you know, anything like that. I just think um my nature of wanting to teach people ah comes across in in a way of like it's not necessarily about you know my background and where I'm from but more about like what I'm doing now and how that relates to you and what you can like pull from that or learn from that or how it benefits you or something along those lines and I think that just comes from years in extension of of teaching people ah things like why they should do something the way we say to do them so
00:12:27
Alexis
I think, and then just like a ah t trust. So I think with cut flowers being relatively new, um a relatively new crop for Kentucky people to buy locally, like, you know, don't go buy it from your big box store, buy it from the farmer's market. So there, I think there is a, um, uh,
00:12:48
Alexis
a stand that I have made to make sure people are understanding the differences, the different types of cultivars, why you would want to buy something local, uh, in that way. Uh, and, and just, you know, how to have the most success with it because it's not the same stuff that they're seeing.
00:13:05
Alexis
So I think that I have taken that route, uh, just by nature, or at least that's what I think I have done on that.
00:13:13
Brett
Amen.
00:13:14
Alexis
And I don't know, I enjoy that. I think, um, You know, I'm the type of person who will tell, if you ask a question, I will most likely tell you anything about myself, but it's not necessarily putting myself out there. I think that comes from having a police officer as a father. It was kind of like you keep, you know, you keep your personal stuff a little bit a little bit closer to the chest, right? But um I think that's where that that comes from. ah But I just, I like to teach people things. So I want them to know that it's not always easy. So I think my relatability comes from
00:13:46
Alexis
Saying like, yeah, hey, I also have a bunch of weeds and I also really am struggling and and just that you're kind of not alone in the industry that way. um And that...
00:13:58
Alexis
you know, farmers, farmers, no matter what they have, whether it's cattle or they're on a combine or, you know, they're cutting hay or picking watermelons. They're all ah experiencing the hardships and the successes that come with farming.
00:14:12
Alexis
And so just really trying to share that with the public, I think has been sort of my brand, whether I initially meant that or not.
00:14:17
Brett
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:14:21
Alexis
um and And also what I do is very artistic, right?
00:14:23
Brett
yeah
00:14:24
Alexis
So you kind of have to share that artsy vibe as well. I think if I was going to do it again, i don't know if I would do it differently.
00:14:30
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:14:32
Alexis
i think i think that's who I am as as a person and to try to do something um you know more or different would not be authentic to me um and the small business I'm trying to portray.
00:14:47
Alexis
So I think authenticity...
00:14:48
Plant People
and
00:14:49
Alexis
whatever that looks like for you is the most important because you can see that, right? Like you can see that in a brand, I think.
00:14:56
Plant People
Well, you mentioned brand brand and vibe, but when I think about, um you know, a big field of cantaloupes, you know, we talked a lot about that because they're tasty.
00:15:04
Alexis
Okay.
00:15:05
Plant People
um Like the vibe there may be different than like, ah you know, flower farming because flower farming is one of those endeavors, you know, like a lot of things, but more so than most other things I think about has a definite like lane or vibe.
00:15:12
Alexis
yeah
00:15:20
Alexis
Yeah, that's true.
00:15:20
Plant People
It seems like, i mean, it definitely does. um ah To me, when I see, maybe it's just the colors, maybe it just lends itself naturally.
00:15:27
Alexis
Yeah, how you photograph and portray it is going to probably be different.
00:15:31
Alexis
No.
00:15:31
Plant People
Photography seems to be really interesting and just the
00:15:35
Plant People
Just it's kind of like going to an RV park after hours. Everybody's setting up the campfires and and sitting around the campfire. There's like nobody unhappy there. There's nobody unhappy in flower farming. I see lots of, I know there's lots of struggle and it's farming and i don't always see that.
00:15:45
Alexis
no It's
00:15:50
Plant People
But I know that that's there. I know it's there, but it's got such a kind of a colorful vibe to flower farming.
00:15:55
Alexis
that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that That's probably why it's becoming so popular is because there is this vibe of like, I'm going to be in a sun hat outside and my, you know, cute dress harvesting and stuff.
00:15:58
Plant People
I've just noticed.
00:16:06
Alexis
So yeah, yeah, I see that. This it's a homesteading vibe.
00:16:08
Plant People
is ah Is the vibe the brand? is that what you're talking about, Brett? Like is the vibe, does that translate to brand or do you have to be more deliberate and consistent to to develop a brand?
00:16:17
Brett
Yeah. Well, I think, I think that that's an interesting, it's an interesting question. I think that there's different ways of communicating it. um And, and part of that is, um has to do with ah whether like how you're visually representing stuff.
00:16:38
Brett
um So that's the elements within your brand, like your colors or your logo or your packet, you know, different packets of information or whatever you want to say.
00:16:38
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:16:38
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:16:45
Brett
um But then there's also like the way that you create spaces and and um likeut your your tone of your communication, whether that be in person or the writing. or like there's So it is kind of to me, it's a blend of physical, real assets with you know and graphical intention behind them and then also... um the, the like vibe so-called vibe side of things.
00:17:12
Brett
And I think that creating that it's difficult.
00:17:13
Alexis
Yeah.
00:17:14
Brett
And I'm glad you mentioned Alexis, the idea of, of it evolving over time.
00:17:19
Alexis
no
00:17:19
Brett
And that, because but I, I think that you, you probably started with something, you know, some intention, some,
00:17:21
Alexis
yeah
00:17:25
Alexis
Oh, yeah. ah Totally started from like a super professional. I want people to think I know what I'm doing route and then realizing that, you know, yes, you want to attract people to your professionalism, but also you want them to see you because box stores are also very professional. Right. So, like, why why come to you over some other place? And that's where that relatability, authenticity, I think, started to seep in.
00:17:54
Brett
Yeah. um Well, so I have a, we could talk about brand photography, but we can talk about something else ah ah or talk about it and at another time too. Actually. um So a part of the MFA, the marketing for all program the in the first, first presentation week, whatever we try to ask people this question. And so I'm just curious, I'm going to run down this, this one worksheet that we worked through. Yeah.
00:18:21
Brett
And you tell me which of these do you tend to gravitate more toward?
00:18:26
Alexis
And
00:18:27
Brett
So the, the, uh, and it could be that some products or some, you know, some contexts you, you tend toward one or the other. um On a scale from personable to professional, and maybe you don't see these as opposite, but go with it for the sake of the argument.
00:18:44
Brett
Personal versus professionable. Personable versus professional. Is there certain brands or certain you know concepts or things that you um need to, that you feel like you gravitate toward one of them one of those more than the other?
00:18:59
Plant People
Depends on, i guess, the for me, the like the situation. If somebody were, if I were a grower growing something and they ask me about the product, I'm going to be pretty professional with my answers and I'm going to know you know, the variety or whatever they're asking about, but you're going to have to be personable in general, I guess.
00:19:19
Plant People
Alexis, I'll kick this to you. I mean, I guess it depends on the scenario.
00:19:21
Alexis
Yeah, i would say um I would say that I lean more towards, like, if we're just talking about me putting myself out there, I'm going to lean more towards professional over personal, you know, just slightly askew towards the more professional um side of things.
00:19:43
Alexis
where Where, Ray, i I see you just, you know, if if the middle is zero and I'm a plus, you know, a negative one, you're a plus one where you are very, um your your vibe is still like, I know what I'm talking about, but you can talk about it in such a more ah relaxed way, I think, than I can.
00:20:02
Brett
Yeah, there's an interesting gender dynamic there, an age dynamic, but but gender in particular that I think, you know, ah that young women sometimes struggle, unfortunately, and unjustly to be taken seriously or to be treated as a professional or to be trusted.
00:20:05
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:16
Brett
And old white guys like me are constantly trying to break down being treated, you know, being interpreted as stiff or professional or overly whatever. And so there's a, there's an opportunity there. I remember that came up when I was in college um where all of the, some of the older ah white, white male professors would be like, call me, you know, Doug or whatever my name is.
00:20:38
Alexis
Yeah.
00:20:38
Brett
And then the, the, the professor, the female professors would be like, i kind of want to be called Dr. Smith or whatever.
00:20:44
Alexis
yeah
00:20:44
Brett
And and I was like, Oh, that makes total sense of, and an unfortunate reality there. Um, I think there's also things too, where depends on the product that you're selling. You know, I don't know that everybody wants a super personable dentist or heart surgeon.
00:20:59
Brett
You know, it's like, I would like for my teeth to be, you know, be nice to me, but, uh, and at the same time, if you're, you know, a bartender, maybe being super stiff and professional at at the dive bar, it's not necessarily something that you're going to, going to bring to that work.
00:21:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:21:12
Brett
Um, I won't go through all of these, but I will think, I will say, um, I'm curious on the the idea of like how balancing upscaleness versus accessibility to everybody.
00:21:24
Brett
You know, that I just mentioned the dive bar is kind of the classic example of the approachable, so to speak. But I think in the local foods world, sometimes we fall into this trap of which one are we going after?
00:21:34
Alexis
Totally.
00:21:35
Brett
Who, what target customers are we targeting? What is our price point?
00:21:39
Plant People
Wow. The customers dictate a lot of that.
00:21:40
Brett
Yeah. What do y'all think about that?
00:21:42
Plant People
i mean, if I were selling to a wholesaler, you know, which, you know, we did in the past, our family, like the professional end. But if I'm selling to an end consumer, I represent myself on a different level, direct to consumer.
00:21:56
Plant People
And it also, this sounds weird, but it also depends on the crop that I'm selling. If it were a newer crop, but Alexis mentioned cut flowers. And that you want to be seen that it's more than just hobby growing flowers. There's a lot that goes into this, a lot of science, a lot of effort, a lot of intention.
00:22:14
Plant People
And then you may want to be seen as more professional. You're a professional, you know, grower of this one item. So it really depends on the customer. I mean, like I fall into different lanes depending on the customer.
00:22:23
Alexis
Yeah.
00:22:26
Plant People
Maybe that wholesaler doesn't care how, you know, the family pictures and, you know, how much I love watering them in the mornings or all of that details. They just want a good quality, consistent product.
00:22:37
Alexis
And with local food, like, you know, thinking about there's this, um I think there's sometimes this idea that it's, you know way more expensive.
00:22:38
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:45
Alexis
And so if it's a way more expensive product, then I'm marketing to people with a lot of money and people with a lot of money are professionals. So I have to come across as professional, which is obviously not always the case in any way.
00:22:59
Alexis
And, you know, why... why are we only marketing or putting professional um out there when everybody eats, right? And so there's, you know, from an accessibility standpoint, you know, thinking about that is interesting too. And, you know, really who your target is and with, well, and like, again, cut flowers is an easy one to say, or if you're in the nursery industry or something like that, a lot of those things are excess, right? That's not something you need to survive.
Visual Storytelling in Branding
00:23:28
Alexis
So you are marketing to a
00:23:30
Alexis
clientele with more disposable funds to put in a hydrangea, a new hydrangea plant or, you know, some trees out front or whatever that is. And so I think there's a tendency to come across more professional for those groups, even whether it's warranted or not.
00:23:50
Plant People
I see people flip back and forth and it's really cool ah between those modes.
00:23:51
Brett
Yeah.
00:23:54
Plant People
And I, and I believe that's just all part of it, especially if you're selling in different avenues, you know, ground level versus, you know, go all the way up through like pure wholesale.
00:24:00
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:24:04
Plant People
I mean, it's, it's different skillsets as far as how you're conveying the information and the product.
00:24:12
Brett
Yeah. Well, think, you know, there's, there's a lot of different ways, you know, Ray, you were getting at earlier, is it just sort of the vibe? How do you create the vibe? How do you you know, develop that?
00:24:19
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:24:21
Brett
And think one of the things we talked about, and you all mentioned it already, is the, the importance of photos in basically everything about branding now.
00:24:27
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:24:30
Plant People
Yeah.
00:24:30
Alexis
Yeah.
00:24:31
Brett
I mean, I think it's been important before, but I think especially as, The quality of the little cameras that we carry around in our pockets at all times has gone up.
00:24:39
Plant People
It's incredible. Yeah.
00:24:42
Brett
ah Some of the expectations about the quality of the photos that we take with them have also gone up.
00:24:47
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:24:47
Brett
I think that much of like, especially in the direct marketing world, a lot of the social media stuff, you know obviously Instagram, you you can't post without a picture or a video of some sort.
00:24:59
Brett
um You could still do that on something like Facebook, but not recommended.
00:25:03
Plant People
Uh-huh.
00:25:04
Brett
ah Engagement tends to be very low on just text only posts. And so I think, you know all that's things that people maybe already knew or already know. But one of the things we emphasize and the reason i we even started talking about the branding stuff in the first place is starting with a little bit of an clear understanding of that messaging.
00:25:23
Alexis
Yeah.
00:25:24
Brett
And then letting it kind of carry forward to, so what do i take pictures of? Or what do how do I even want to stage and frame the pictures?
00:25:29
Alexis
Yeah.
00:25:31
Brett
And um I'm curious, you know, does anything pop to mind based on the the branding angles that you all said of like, is there colors?
00:25:34
Plant People
That's a big one.
00:25:38
Plant People
ah
00:25:40
Brett
Is there, you know, some sort of lighting? Is there some sort of subject matter? What what do you think about it? You start to think about a good photo.
00:25:45
Plant People
ah think the scale and subject matter, and got an interesting story there. In college, i did ah took some classes, and that was in ye olden days where we actually developed our film and and went on to do some studio photography.
00:25:57
Alexis
hey
00:25:59
Plant People
And then we you know did some ah like galleries, art galleries, me and a group of folks did. But it was very interesting and I love landscapes. That was my thing. i was, I loved Antwoah Adams and I love black and white landscapes and I love the scale, big sweeping scales.
00:26:15
Plant People
But I noticed when we would have like these small art shows at Berea years ago, that a landscape portrait would elicit a completely different response and something smaller in scale, such as ah a candid, you know, photograph of someone in a crowd experiencing an emotion.
00:26:15
Brett
Thank you.
00:26:33
Plant People
And I got this appreciation that there is a difference between scale and subject.
00:26:33
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:26:39
Plant People
And I guess that's the difference to me in this conversation would be the picture of a field of cantaloupes versus a child holding a tomato, and enjoying that juicy tomato.
00:26:50
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:26:50
Plant People
But I mean, all of that matters. And it does. And I noticed, ah you know, all those years ago that that elicits a different sort of interest, a different sort of response. And, and there's a lot that goes into that.
00:27:02
Plant People
And photographers know all of this stuff that, you know, all of those things are important depending on what you're trying to convey.
00:27:05
Alexis
Uh-huh.
00:27:08
Plant People
The feeling, I guess, the vibe, the feeling that you're trying to convey.
00:27:10
Brett
So do you think both of those photos would have a place in your marketing of the the brand that you sort of talked about earlier?
00:27:15
Plant People
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Overview versus a daily post. The overview would be a nice picture of a beautiful field, a farm or flowers or whatever. It could be a foundation photo, whereas the more candid, intimate photographs that are closer up in subject matter would be your dailies, your constant posts.
00:27:30
Alexis
ah the
00:27:34
Plant People
I don't know, am I off base here like Alexis? I know you do a lot of really cool posts.
00:27:37
Alexis
No, i think I think that's really cool. right i I got really excited because like that I think very clearly um talks about our different ends of of the brand where your daily would be a little bit more candid and then you'd have you know these overarching you know beautiful photos of a landscape or the melon field or whatever.
00:27:56
Alexis
Mine is the exact opposite.
00:27:56
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:27:58
Alexis
And so my everyday photos are just, you know, close up photos of a bug or, you know, a flower field or whatever.
00:28:05
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:28:07
Alexis
And then my more, you know, once a week type photos ah are something with like a face in it. I just say a face. It's not always my face. It could be a kid holding, you know, a bouquet or whatever.
00:28:16
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:28:19
Alexis
And that's, I think really speaks to, could be the cat, the difference in brand. And I, like I recently said this, um, to my husband and I, and I said, um I want you to take a picture of this big bunch of flowers and they were the focus, but I said, I want you, you need to get my face in a little bit.
00:28:35
Alexis
And he was like, why?
00:28:35
Plant People
Yes.
00:28:36
Alexis
And I said, because that's my, that's my jump. Like that's, uh, that like jump jump starts my social media of having a face in it or, um, you know, the dog in it or something like that.
00:28:42
Plant People
me Yeah.
00:28:50
Alexis
And so, uh, mine is the opposite where I'm like really trying to push a visual product. I'm putting that out there a lot more often, but then I'm putting a face in it to bring that back to this could be you, right?
00:28:55
Plant People
Yeah. yeah
00:29:01
Alexis
This is a a real tangible thing. Um, but that's just my, my personal style is where it's different from yours.
00:29:08
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:29:08
Plant People
Well, and you also said something there. And and um my professor in college would always say, well, be careful of photo fatigue. That means, you know, if you love landscapes, that you can't just do that.
00:29:17
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:29:21
Plant People
And that was before social media.
00:29:22
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:29:23
Plant People
But talking about people will look at the first three out of 10 and then kind of get fatigued and their brain starts to take shortcuts and they'll move on to the next section of the gallery.
00:29:27
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:29:31
Alexis
Mm, that's a good point.
00:29:32
Plant People
But what you just said was you're you're doing pictures, you're doing photographs.
00:29:32
Alexis
Yeah.
00:29:38
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:29:38
Plant People
but they're varied. Some are faces, some may be pets, some may be products, but the really important concept, and he always stressed that, he said you have to avoid mental shortcuts and fatigue in photography if you're doing like, you know, you have a series of pictures and that applies, I think, today.
00:29:39
Alexis
Yeah.
00:29:53
Alexis
Yeah. And different angles, different like different angles to look at something.
00:29:55
Plant People
Yes. Depth of field. Mm-hmm.
00:29:58
Alexis
yeah um You know, do you take a picture of the braided garlic hanging on the wall? Do you take a picture of the gar you know garlic in the ground?
00:30:06
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:30:07
Alexis
um You know, it might be all the same product, but it's down lower or up higher or something like that.
00:30:13
Plant People
You can't just take pictures, I guess, of the product, even though they're beautiful. The flowers are beautiful. I guess after the 30th flower, you're like, oh, ah you might someone may miss something.
00:30:18
Alexis
yeah
00:30:21
Alexis
Right, right. It's just a flower. there's
00:30:23
Plant People
Yeah, that's an interesting point.
00:30:23
Alexis
there're there's not it's not It's not relatable, right? So it's it's that that aspect of it.
00:30:26
Plant People
Yeah.
00:30:28
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:30:28
Plant People
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:30:28
Brett
Well, think just ah just to kind of tie together what you were saying. So like Alexis, um you know you are tending to predominantly be professional product and education with a sprinkling of that personability in one way or another.
00:30:40
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:30:43
Alexis
Right.
00:30:43
Brett
And that could be strategic in terms of get a little bit of my face in it, but also it could be that you have you know occasionally that more candid thing.
00:30:44
Alexis
Right.
00:30:50
Brett
And then Ray, you had said that your brand, you know thinking about it
00:30:51
Alexis
yeah
00:30:54
Brett
leading with personability and kind of personal story and connection back to place that that's your predominant thing.
00:30:58
Plant People
Yeah.
00:30:59
Brett
And then you sprinkle in some of the more meta business, ah you know, and that stuff, that's, I think that blend of, or or that spectrum that you were pointed out, Alexis is really important.
00:31:03
Plant People
yeah
00:31:10
Brett
And one that people tend to tend to, we tend to see the people in Kentucky fall on that spectrum somewhere. ah And I think, you know, a couple of the things that, you
00:31:17
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:31:22
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:31:22
Brett
can actually very basic tips for good photos. One is to think about what your product is and make sure you're representing it well and accurately. i mean, that that is a very basic, um ah there's a ah guy I watch who does some marketing analysis and he talks about advertisements and
00:31:32
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:31:32
Alexis
yeah
00:31:32
Plant People
Yeah. yeah
00:31:40
Brett
there'll be these big, huge but huge budget ah Super Bowl ads or something like equivalent. And he points out, he's like, there is almost no feature of the product in the ad.
00:31:51
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:31:51
Brett
And especially if it's for something people aren't familiar with, or especially if it's for a new brand or a new business or a small business, there's no not really getting around the fact that you should be featuring your product and what you're trying to sell as kind of the crown jewel of all the things.
00:32:05
Brett
ah And sometimes we get caught up in being overthinking things too much, but take good pictures of your good stuff post that as a strategy can work quite well.
00:32:16
Brett
um And I think that um thinking about those branding considerations as as a secondary piece to that, supporting that is a strategy. good strategy
00:32:28
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:32:28
Brett
So Alexis, you know I think understanding what
00:32:29
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
Brand Differentiation Through Imagery
00:32:33
Brett
your product is in the first place is kind of challenging because you know you might sell people.
00:32:39
Brett
i will ask people sometimes at presentations, what do you sell? And they'll say tomatoes or they'll say flowers. And I will say, in fact, your product is a locally grown vine ripened from your county plant.
00:32:57
Brett
heirloom tomato. And I say that not to be pedantic, but to in some way, uh, offer opportunities for what we would call differentiation.
00:32:59
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:33:05
Brett
And I think that's another part of storytelling with photos and with branding in general is to think about how is this product different and how can I, you know, communicate that you'll have any thoughts about like how to make something different, you know to show something is different different in a, in a photo or in,
00:33:22
Plant People
that's the story of marketing yeah yeah trying to figure out the um not not in a bad way but trying to figure figure out the angle and And convey that effectively.
00:33:31
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:33:32
Plant People
I don't know, Alexis, if you have some variegated or some sport or some amazing version of something, if someone had a flower that was just totally unique, I guess you would lean hard into that.
00:33:44
Plant People
If you were...
00:33:44
Alexis
Yeah, I mean, I i think, um so I'll give an example. I'm growing for the first time ever. I'm super excited about it. Tulip gingers this year.
00:33:54
Plant People
o
00:33:54
Alexis
And that's not a very popular flower in Kentucky. I'm sure there is somebody listening to has maybe grown them, but it's, it's,
00:33:59
Plant People
Yeah.
00:34:04
Alexis
for the sake of it, very new.
00:34:07
Alexis
um And so I'm giving it a shot.
00:34:07
Plant People
They're unique.
00:34:08
Plant People
They're unique for Kentucky.
00:34:09
Alexis
And so I'm using that as a sprinkling, as an interest piece, but you have you know sticking to the um the things that people know, but you know you can update that. So yes, they're used to getting bouquets, but I might you know um do a special, hey, the bouquets have tulip gingers in them this week because the week before I did like a little educational thing on it.
00:34:27
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:34:29
Alexis
And then the week before that it was
00:34:30
Plant People
Yeah.
00:34:31
Alexis
you know, exciting, they're coming up. And the month before that, it was me planting them. So there's a little bit of a story going along with that, um to of that relatability of taking people through the process.
00:34:43
Alexis
ah But it's still focusing on like the end product of like what I'm trying to sell. And so I think That is at the heart of it and you just figure out new ways and and if you're not growing a new crop, that's okay It could be you know something new you're trellising it could be Um, just the full story that you've never shown people before it doesn't have to be well I have to grow something new every year.
00:35:06
Alexis
So people are excited No, it could be a new recipe It could be something but it ultimately brings people back to that product that you are trying to sell um, or you know market um, I think
00:35:07
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:35:17
Plant People
Yeah.
00:35:18
Brett
Yeah, something and something I would suggest is that um some part yeah we talked about how featuring the product itself is never a bad idea, but featuring the product and then what are the contextual things around that product in the photo?
00:35:31
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:35:32
Brett
So, for instance, you know, um I may harvest a bunch of green beans.
00:35:33
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:35:38
Brett
And I have the option to take and put those green beans in a container, sit them on a stark white table and take a picture of that and post and say green beans are here.
00:35:47
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:35:47
Brett
What does that tell me about any of the things associated with those green beans as compared to a picture of me and my grandson harvesting those green beans?
00:35:52
Alexis
Totally.
00:35:57
Plant People
Hmm.
00:35:57
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:35:58
Brett
as opposed to a dish where you know somebody ah prepared the green beans or grandma and me sitting on the ah on the porch snapping the beans to prepare them.
00:36:05
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:36:10
Brett
um and And I think in each of those cases, you're either telling the story of there's a human producing this and you're buying straight from the human who's producing it. There's an element of um the the legacy or the historical and cultural importance of this particular type of thing or type of item.
00:36:18
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:36:27
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:36:28
Brett
I think also, um you know, like with the the flower thing. So if you're trying to sell your product as a super high end professional product that can compete with florists and other types of businesses like that, then the down home put the put the bouquet on the bale of hay and it's really kind of golden washing, you know, washed out light bright out doesn't necessarily communicate that.
00:36:54
Alexis
Sure.
00:36:54
Brett
And instead you might want to get into almost like studio lighting and you might actually want to pay a photographer even to take some of those pictures.
00:36:58
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:37:01
Brett
And that, that is part of, again, communicating.
00:37:01
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:37:04
Brett
And if you're, if you're, you have this brand and Alexis, you mentioned like with, with yours over time, it's developed. Part of the developing is you start to figure out what you're good at. You start to figure out what you like, what other people like, and then you start to really double down on that.
00:37:14
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:37:18
Brett
But the the less that you can have be competing with your own attempt, like ear to your, I want to do this with my branding.
00:37:23
Alexis
right
00:37:25
Brett
And then you create a photo or post a photo that directly competes with that idea.
00:37:29
Alexis
yeah yeah totally that was yeah that was always like for me and i'll give you a veg veg example as well but like when i started growing cut flowers
00:37:30
Brett
ah really undercut, it can undercut um ah versus supporting. And, and, uh,
00:37:42
Alexis
And there's nothing wrong with this, but my brand, I did not want to be the burlap, what I called the burlap and lace brand. And there's nothing wrong with that brand. It's, but I wasn't going to put flowers on a hay bale. I wasn't going, you know, am I going to show the farm? Sure.
00:37:56
Alexis
But that was not the brand. That was not the types of flowers I wanted to grow. Similar to if you're growing a specialty heirloom, a specialty, you know, cherry that you're wanting to hide scent or sell to high-end restaurants, you know, versus everyday, you know, canners. Again, there's nothing wrong with either end of those spectrum, but you're going to show those photos differently. You're going to show them in a nice recipe. You're going to show them with lots of color in them um versus, you know, a nice canned ah or grandma canning or whatever that is. There's no wrong answer here, but
00:38:29
Alexis
pick kind of like pick a lane and then you know if you you come I went harder you know if again if zero is the very middle between relatable versus professional you know I went pretty hard towards professional and just slowly back down to that like middle zero mark as I saw and developed but um yeah that's that's a great example
00:38:52
Brett
Yeah. And I think, you know, one of the things that sometimes with just marketing and branding, sometimes people feel like it's, it's like athleticism, you know, it's something you're born with or you're not.
00:39:03
Brett
And it's just an ability that you have or you don't.
00:39:03
Plant People
no
00:39:03
Alexis
Oh, yeah.
00:39:05
Brett
And that's not, yeah.
00:39:05
Alexis
Like it's creativity you're born with, yeah.
00:39:08
Brett
And that's not, that's not true. There's different people who have different types of creativity. But one thing that I have learned is that the vast majority of marketing, like the behind the scenes of it,
00:39:19
Brett
is it extremely contrived and not boring necessarily, but verging on boring. It's like a logistical process.
00:39:27
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:28
Plant People
Yeah, you're running a process.
00:39:28
Brett
You're thinking I need X on Monday, ex on Tuesday, on when, you know, and, and it comes across to the customer as, Oh my gosh.
00:39:29
Plant People
Yeah.
00:39:32
Plant People
Consistency just there.
00:39:33
Alexis
who
00:39:37
Brett
And you mentioned right earlier, the there's nobody ever unhappy on a flower farm. That's, and that's part of the goal is you don't want your product to be associated with human pain or um some other,
00:39:42
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:42
Plant People
Yeah. Hash that in. Let's get away from the funeral flowers, will we? Yes. Yes.
00:39:51
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:51
Brett
Any other kind of pain, I guess, is for that matter. um And so to that end, one one practical thing I think that um we recommend in thinking about as you make that that jump from brand to photos is...
00:40:05
Brett
allow yourself to be a bit contrived. And the way to do that is to use something that we just call it a shot list, but this is, it just think about what you want to take pictures of, write it down and then go and take those pictures and do that.
00:40:15
Alexis
Yeah.
00:40:19
Brett
And what that will allow you to do is it doesn't have to have make everything feel spontaneous. You don't have to wait for the right moment for things to happen. You just create the opportunity and it's an important part of your task list, just like watering or planting or harvesting.
00:40:32
Plant People
and
00:40:34
Brett
And you just turn it into a ah chore. um
00:40:37
Alexis
yeah
00:40:37
Brett
And so you go and do that. and so And so just some examples of a shot list that we we came up with um would be to, and this you just can would write these down, you go out and collect them.
00:40:48
Brett
And then you have them in your're in your bank of photos to use for your branding.
00:40:50
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:40:52
Brett
Maybe something like an overhead or a panoramic shot of the farm itself, like a really wide view. That was kind of what Ray was talking about with the cantaloupe. um Maybe the farmer, you, someone else ah in the field tending to the crops, working on them. You have that kind of action shot.
00:41:08
Brett
Some close-ups of hands. Those hands could be seeding. They could be harvesting. They could be preparing food. They could be selling at the market. um A close-up of the produce, that's kind of a straightforward one where, you know in a given context and think about the lighting and all that kind of stuff, that's ah this isn't like a how-to-do photos.
00:41:26
Brett
It's just thinking about your photos a little more strategically.
00:41:28
Plant People
Thank you.
00:41:28
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:41:30
Brett
um Doing some farmer portraits can be fun to have it be almost like an American Gothic style or something kind of fun and in that regard. It can also be more informal like Alexis was talking about, but, you know, the the picture, you're holding the the product, but you're in it too, smiling or proud or whatever you are.
00:41:48
Brett
A couple of others, you might have like ah your products, like the showcase of all your products within a given um either, maybe you have a retail environment or maybe you're taking it to a chef and you want to show them a picture, show them you know what you have available and you've sort of set up this cornucopia kind of vibe with the really you know nicely lit area. that That might be something you might want to um include there. Let's see here there's any other particular ones.
00:42:17
Brett
i think I think one of the... I'm curious about your all's thoughts on this. There is a tendency sometimes and to talk about or to share the so so-called ah farming warts and all. you know Show the fail, show the not so cool,
00:42:35
Brett
ah the irrigation line blew up or i' been up all night with the calves or whatever. What do you all think of that? Like when when you see that, does that have cachet with you?
00:42:45
Brett
What do you think about customers? you think that what's, what's the vibe on that?
00:42:47
Plant People
I like it because, i mean, that's that can be artistic too. And a simple you know picture you know of a blown line and done in such a way, framed out in such a way, that can tell a pretty powerful story of you know the realness and the struggle of you know that's behind the product. That flower farming not totally easy. It's not all butterflies and sunshiny days and and walks through the farm.
00:43:16
Plant People
you You know, it's, you know, irrigation and it's weeds. And but I think that's all part of the story. And that's that's one of the things I love. um Those ah those moments, you know, good and bad.
00:43:27
Plant People
just part of the story.
Transparency and Relatability in Branding
00:43:30
Alexis
Yeah, I, I, um, I am for it. I think it can be done strategically. And again, that's specifically talking about like my brand um where you you want to be real with people, but also, um you know, people want to live that dream, I think a little bit with you.
00:43:53
Alexis
And so you don't want to overwhelm them with all the negativity ah because it can be
00:43:55
Plant People
Yeah.
00:43:59
Alexis
Especially with flowers. But i think I think farming in general for a lot of people looks like a beautiful life. And and it is. it just um They want to live that dream and they want to support your dream.
00:44:12
Alexis
And so you can't constantly be inundating them with the negatives. And and I think that's the beauty of um like stories. If we're talking specifically social media you know, stories disappear within 24 hours.
00:44:24
Alexis
And so you can post some of those things that are, you know, happening regularly that, know,
00:44:28
Plant People
I like that it goes away.
00:44:30
Alexis
Yeah, the irrigation that blows up, the the very day-to-day little stuff you can post on there.
00:44:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:44:35
Alexis
And then the actual quote-unquote permanent posts that are going to stay in a feed that you want people to maybe interact with um that are negative. I always try to make them relatable.
00:44:48
Alexis
Like, ah hey, look, your farmer still has weed problems.
00:44:48
Plant People
man
00:44:52
Alexis
Hey, look, um you know, they also lose calves or they're you know chickens get got you know get got by them raccoons or you know it's it's a way to make it relatable um and and remind people that you are a real person that is doing this but i think letting them live the dream with you is is important and what keeps them coming back to look at your stuff and see what's available um so i think you just just be so be strategic be honest but be strategic
00:45:20
Plant People
Well, and some of this, I mean, you used to be just, I guess in the early days, you
00:45:21
Brett
Thank you.
00:45:25
Plant People
had a permanent website. Pictures were permanent as long as you had them up.
00:45:27
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:45:28
Plant People
But now it's so platform specific that some things linda and that's just speak to your point alexa something some things lend themselves to a you know temporary story or a temporary photo that goes away after a given amount of time.
00:45:43
Plant People
And some are more permanent sort of things that are the backbone of whatever you're trying to do. and And that takes a whole different set of considerations.
00:45:49
Alexis
Yeah.
00:45:51
Plant People
And that's platform specific.
00:45:54
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:45:54
Plant People
ah depending on and that ah just adds another layer to the cake. I mean, if you're being very deliberate and I think people that do a pretty good job at that, they're good at, you know, the platform that you're, they're using and getting the word out.
00:46:09
Plant People
And we have a couple of operations or bigger operations in my County.
00:46:09
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:46:13
Plant People
They have people on the farm, on the family, just whatever that are dedicated to social media that I feel like they do a good job. There's people that are responsible, Brett, for running the process week in and week out.
00:46:25
Plant People
And they laugh and they're like, oh my gosh, you know, and they have a bunch of photos that they'll take. They're like, oh, we got to post, make sure we post this week or we're going to be on vacation. I'm sure Alexis, when you're on vacation, there's still posts happening. I bet.
00:46:37
Alexis
Yeah, they're scheduled.
00:46:38
Plant People
Yeah.
00:46:38
Alexis
And like Emily on our team, yeah for CCD, schedules stuff out.
00:46:38
Plant People
this The show goes on. Yeah.
00:46:40
Brett
Never stops. Never sleeps.
00:46:43
Alexis
Yeah.
00:46:43
Plant People
Yep. Yep.
00:46:44
Brett
Yeah. In
00:46:44
Plant People
And all
Strategic Branding and Planning
00:46:45
Brett
case you aren't aware, you can you can schedule posts on the MetaBusiness suite for both Instagram and Facebook.
00:46:45
Plant People
of those are.
00:46:50
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:51
Brett
So if you if you think if you thought up until now, which there are still some people who do in that, there's no shade on that because you live a blessed life of not being baptized in the algorithm.
00:47:00
Alexis
Yeah, really.
00:47:01
Brett
um But yeah.
00:47:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:47:04
Brett
Yeah, not not most posts that you see were not taken and posted extemporaneously, you know, off the cuff. They were, in fact, contrived.
00:47:11
Plant People
Yeah.
00:47:12
Brett
They were planned maybe even days or weeks ago. um
00:47:15
Alexis
yeah
00:47:16
Brett
So thats that's how and why that that kind of thing plays out.
00:47:18
Alexis
Yeah. if you are in the in the world of like, you're like, okay, shot list is a really good idea. And like, yeah, in a perfect world, I'm going to do that. I have personally um refined that down to that seems more manageable to me as I'm taking photos.
00:47:34
Alexis
to like these tiers or these sections of what I want in my feed each week. And so one might be a personal shot.
00:47:41
Plant People
um
00:47:43
Alexis
And so that's going to be like a face of a pet or a me or a somebody right with ah with my product.
00:47:49
Plant People
i
00:47:50
Alexis
a very product specific shot. And then there's going to be one that's more, more general. Maybe it's a a wide shot. Maybe it's just a, you know, a bunch of, it's just really pretty flowers in the photo or, you know, the really pretty pile of eggplants or whatever that is.
00:48:04
Alexis
And so I have these like kind of three tiers. And as long as my shot fits within those three tiers I've identified for my, my brand, um, then it's a good shot to take and it'll be useful
00:48:11
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:48:15
Alexis
you know, quickly. And so that's kind of the way I've thought about it just because, um but shotless, I definitely started with that. And that is really helpful. I think when you get started, but once you kind of get that down, you can sort of decide what are those tiers for you. And that helps figure out what you should photograph.
00:48:33
Brett
Yeah, I think that i think that the shot list thing is a good starting point and it's good for people who have zero, like no marketing bone in their body, but they want to do it.
00:48:36
Alexis
Yeah.
00:48:39
Alexis
Totally. Totally.
00:48:42
Brett
It kind of turns it into more like an engineering task than a marketing task per se.
00:48:42
Alexis
Yes.
00:48:44
Plant People
Yeah.
00:48:46
Brett
Yeah. um and And I also think, you know, when you're starting or if you haven't done a good job so far of capturing pictures, that's okay. It helps you to build up a library. And so in the early days, you may be going out and taking 30, 40, 50, 100 plus photos that you can now have in your, you know, in for the off season, or you can have them, you know, available online.
00:49:07
Brett
to, um, to use.
00:49:08
Alexis
Absolutely.
00:49:09
Brett
But then as you move forward with your business, like you're talking about, Alexis, you, you have this, you want to be capturing content that's more dynamic. It's more like from now as opposed to, yeah.
00:49:17
Alexis
Mm hmm. Yeah. In the moment, a little bit more in the moment that you can share. um and and I would encourage you that like if you're on social media and struggling or even websites and you're struggling to know what to put on there.
00:49:28
Alexis
go find ones that have good shots and be like, oh, well, I can take my version of that. um I love the way they stacked everything up and the sun was setting in the background. Well, I can throw a ah table outside and put my daily harvest in it and you know situate my table so the sun is setting in the background or or whatever that is.
00:49:46
Alexis
Pick those things out. I know sometimes it can feel like you're copying someone. I would say, don't necessarily copy the farm that's right down the road from you or you do and you say love this shot from you know ah so but we'll we'll use Jessica's the Jessica the best in family farm I love this shot wanted to recreate it with our eggplants where you know maybe they did beef or something but you can also use that that's community building and and helping out but It's okay. it's like like nothing is I feel like nothing is really new. I mean, that that's probably pessimistic to say, but it's okay if you may take the same shot as somebody else that you admire and you can say, hey, love this shot, wanted ah wanted to recreate it for us. And and that's all right um to to do. ah
00:50:30
Alexis
And i just I think sometimes they're like, I don't want to copy anybody else. Well, you know, we're we're all we're all just trying to make it and none of these ideas are new.
00:50:36
Brett
Yeah.
00:50:38
Alexis
So...
00:50:39
Brett
Well, think in general, you know, if you're, it's often true that like in in the world of investment or in the world of evaluating businesses, you it's often the most boring businesses are the ones that actually are the most, the ones that don't think too far outside the box are often the most valuable in the longterm.
00:50:54
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:50:56
Brett
You know, they may not be the sexiest. They may not make a big splash. It reminds me of and in parks and rec where ah Tom Haverford wants to open a restaurant and Ben, why at the stand-in for me in this situation says, what if you opened a company that sold dry cleaning fluids to dry cleaning businesses?
00:51:02
Alexis
yeah
00:51:16
Brett
And he's like, I've run all the numbers and it works really well and it would be a really good. And Tom's like, I i want to have a restaurant.
Creativity and Consumer-Centric Branding
00:51:24
Brett
It's like that kind of thing where it's the same way with the marketing, I think, where we have it.
00:51:26
Alexis
Yeah.
00:51:28
Brett
Sometimes we have a desire to be too different and to reinvent the wheel too much.
00:51:30
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:51:32
Brett
And whereas degrees of difference can make it seem different.
00:51:33
Alexis
It doesn't land.
00:51:37
Brett
You know, that but is the in the cosmic scheme is the difference between Cutflower Business A and Kentucky and Cutflower B, both of which are successful.
00:51:38
Plant People
yeah
00:51:46
Brett
Is it really that different in the grand cosmic scene?
00:51:48
Alexis
Right.
00:51:48
Brett
No, but between those two, there's enough differences that you can kind of figure out what they are.
00:51:49
Alexis
Right.
00:51:51
Plant People
yeah
00:51:53
Brett
And I would say just to answer my own question about the, the warts and all thing, I think it really depends. And I am particular, I am not always a fan of that.
00:52:05
Brett
And and the here's the reason why.
00:52:07
Alexis
Yeah.
00:52:07
Brett
I think this is nice kind of closing to the to the conversation is that for me, it comes back to the brand, but it also comes back to the customers that you're going after.
00:52:17
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:52:17
Brett
And so if you're going after customers that are dyed in the wool, local food hounds, they love it, they can't get enough of it. They're going to eat up that ah that content about the warts and all.
00:52:29
Brett
Here's the problems.
00:52:29
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:52:30
Brett
Here's the good things, et cetera. ray Ray would be an example of that. you know He's someone who's spent his life supporting small farmers.
00:52:37
Plant People
only thers Only the subscribers get that bonus content, though.
00:52:41
Brett
That's right.
00:52:42
Plant People
Only the inner circle gets the good stuff.
00:52:45
Brett
And the the, that's right.
00:52:45
Alexis
yeah your newsletter list yeah yeah
00:52:46
Plant People
Well, yeah, actually, yes.
00:52:48
Brett
Yeah, they can opt in and opt out.
00:52:50
Plant People
There you go.
00:52:50
Brett
um And one of the but one of the things that I always say and when we talk to people out and in the world and um like I'll give you one quick just quick example of of a branding decision.
00:52:51
Plant People
They're like, whoa, that's way too much, man.
00:53:03
Brett
Berry containers. You have that kind of greenish pulp container and then you have a plastic clamshell container.
00:53:05
Alexis
and
00:53:07
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:53:10
Brett
And I ask people, which one of these do you prefer?
00:53:10
Alexis
yeah
00:53:12
Brett
And of course, the crunchy people are like the pulp on the pulp when it's biodegradable. And I'm like, yeah, that's cool. Microplastics not awesome, like, et cetera. I get it, like all of that. But if you were going to take someone and I always use the example of like my mom, if you were going take my mom and try to sell berries to her,
00:53:31
Brett
She's familiar to buying familiar with bery buying berries in clamshell. She is familiar with this is sort of like a high quality product that will stay in my you know stay in my fridge for a while.
00:53:35
Alexis
Yeah.
00:53:41
Brett
um So she doesn't want the warts and all. She's got enough warts and all from from her own life that she doesn't want. that That's kind of the customer mindset that some people are in. And so if you're only going to be shooting to capture that local market consistently and the people that are kind of, again, maybe they're CSA or former CSA members, they've been to the farmer's market for the last 10 years or whatever.
00:54:01
Brett
That may have some cache, but there's a whole world of customers who really just want a high quality product and they'll pay a little bit of attention to your branding enough to identify that you're what I'm looking for.
00:54:01
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:54:13
Brett
But beyond that, um keeping the focus on um the product can can be useful. And so I think there is a real dependence there and you all pointed to the creative customer segmentation that you have some customers that want this and some customers that want this and there's creative ways to do that.
00:54:20
Plant People
oh
00:54:25
Plant People
Yeah, we've we've talked about that.
00:54:27
Brett
but
00:54:28
Plant People
Yeah.
00:54:28
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:54:29
Brett
But I think as you're thinking through your brand and you're thinking through the photos that you want to take um and and the stories that you want to tell, all of this is can be changed across time as you see what works and what doesn't.
00:54:29
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:40
Brett
take it Just really give us give us take a second to think about like the customers you're shooting for now and maybe even into the future. as And like how's it going to land with them? Not how's it going to land with Brett, brett the local food champion or such and such, the environmental champion or whatever.
00:54:50
Alexis
Yeah.
00:54:55
Brett
How's it going to land with a broader
00:54:55
Plant People
I'm going for the volume, baby. I'm going for
Fantasy, Aspiration, and Authentic Storytelling
00:54:58
Plant People
the the middle ground.
00:54:58
Brett
customer base?
00:54:58
Brett
you know yeah Yeah.
00:54:59
Plant People
Yeah.
00:55:00
Brett
What were you going to say, Alexis?
00:55:00
Alexis
Yeah.
00:55:01
Plant People
Yeah.
00:55:01
Brett
You could take us out after that.
00:55:03
Alexis
Yeah, no, I was just i was saying, like, if you are selling lettuce and you want to show the warts of, oh, no, the birds all pooped all over the lettuce. And like, obviously, you're not going to sell people that bad lettuce, but you don't want it out out there that it's possible that they could could be getting bird poop lettuce. Right. Like.
00:55:22
Alexis
there that's a little bit different. Maybe after the fact, maybe lettuce season is done and then you share that. um or Or if you're going to do it, make it something, again, relatable. I think the the way I always try and spin it, not that it's like right or wrong, but personally, I always try and spin it of like, hey, if you're so if you're struggling right now with something, don't we all are, right? It's something a little bit more relatable in that way. um But ah yeah, so-
00:55:47
Brett
But I think, I think that the reason why, part of the reason why, and it's something you touched on and I wasn't going to get a hold, but you know, you've inspired me here to just,
00:55:55
Alexis
I brought it back up again. Yeah.
00:55:58
Brett
and i And I asked the earlier question earlier, what is the product that you're selling? You said that people want the story and I would say they they want the fantasy in some cases. And and I'm going to ah this might embarrass you or whatever, but I think there are people who buy the products that you sell because they want to be like you. They want to live the life that you live.
00:56:21
Brett
And so by saying the life that you're purchasing in that in the form of that that bouquet or that you know pound of tomatoes, actually isn't that awesome? You're killing their vibe of their fantasy.
00:56:31
Alexis
Yeah. Right.
00:56:34
Brett
And we deal in so much mythology and fantasy in the world of local foods.
00:56:34
Alexis
Perfect. Exactly.
00:56:39
Brett
And we have to make a decision about, you know, to what extent do we want to perpetuate that?
00:56:41
Plant People
Yeah.
00:56:43
Brett
Or do we want to um allow that to happen? And how important is that? But like almost all marketing is about there's some degree of fantasy that if you buy the fancy car, you'll have the beautiful woman that's in the passenger seat.
00:56:52
Plant People
Yeah.
00:56:56
Plant People
You have to leave room for yourself in the story or the customers putting themselves in your story.
00:56:57
Alexis
Totally.
00:57:00
Brett
Yeah. And their aspirations, their dreams, and there's, you know, there's all kinds of
00:57:00
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:57:01
Plant People
Yeah.
00:57:01
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:57:02
Plant People
Yeah.
00:57:04
Plant People
Yeah.
00:57:04
Brett
ethics and questions about that.
00:57:05
Alexis
Yeah.
00:57:06
Brett
But I do think that there is, ah you made it such a, you said it so, so well earlier, Alexis, about the idea of they're also buying the story and that, that has, that has everything to do with what your brand and the storytelling that you're doing is.
00:57:14
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:57:20
Brett
So, yeah.
00:57:21
Alexis
Yeah. Well, hopefully this was helpful for those of you who are just kind of trying to figure out what what should you be doing in theory or or, you know, what pictures should you be taking? And I know, you know, we talked a little bit about like specific shots, but, you know, just kind of decide what is um what is the story you want to get out there about your product and start there and develop shots around that.
00:57:46
Alexis
Of course, if you have any questions, you can always reach out to us. ah Reach out via our Gmail. That's going to be in ah in the show notes. We have a new email. If you've not ah used that, ah you can ask us some questions on there. You can also follow us at Hort Culture Podcast on Instagram.
00:58:04
Alexis
And we'll post some stuff up about, you know, marketing. We'll pull from sort of this ah marketing for all so things that we've been doing over here at the CCD and maybe some tips and tricks on that. And like I said, go follow some cool places.
00:58:18
Alexis
Follow CCD UKY for some more stuff about marketing. It's regularly scheduled. We do have those tiers that we regularly schedule. So we do practice what we preach over there. ah So you can go follow us. ah And if you have any questions, yeah, feel free for feel free to reach out.
00:58:35
Alexis
And i haven't said it in a while, but we would love if you would go leave us five stars. So if this is something that would be helpful, tell us what shots you're going to ah you know take next for your marketing based on this combo.
00:58:46
Alexis
ah Leave it And that helps other people find us who can then also take really good photographs to put up on their website and their social media and all that jazz. So we would really appreciate it. It helps others find us.
00:58:57
Alexis
And we hope that you keep listening. We hope that as we grow this podcast, you'll grow with us and we'll see you next time.