Who knew that bamboo was grown in Alabama?
This was the public reception that we most want to overcome. We want to dispel the notion that bamboo should only be associated with pandas and tropical climates with a campaign that leverages surprise and pride of place. At its core, our exhibit is a "black box" pop-up shop in New York City featuring both museum-style bamboo artifacts and more traditional bamboo consumer items. It is an awe-inspiring showcase of the incredible (and surprising) versatility of bamboo, as well as a vehicle for educating our audience on the remarkable truth: that all of the bamboo came from America.
To leverage that surprise, our marketing campaign directly leverages these brand promises of pride-of-place and surprise with a guerrilla teaser campaign, whereby we will "plant" bamboo trees in the most unlikely of places in New York City: in the sidewalk, in the subway, near landmarks, etc… The idea is to use that contrast to help people fundamentally rethink their perception of bamboo, while driving them to the pop-up shop and the website for the grand reveal.
Partnerships will be will a fundamental piece to making this work. Like when farmers came together for "Got Milk?", we are striving to create a holistic brand to raise general awareness for the product. We will bring together both haute-couture designers (who have never worked with bamboo) and bamboo artisans (who would love the chance to meet and work with our designers). Most importantly, we will connect consumers - most of whom had no idea they could purchase local, sustainable bamboo, nor that it could be used with such versatility - with Alabamian bamboo producers to create a flourishing market under one brand umbrella.
