CASE STUDY: FARROW & BALL
THE CLIENT
Founded in 1946, Farrow & Ball is a beloved British manufacturer of the highest quality paints and hand-crafted wallpapers based largely on historic color palettes and archival designs. The company is famed for its range of paint colors, some of which were formulated with help from the British National Trust to precisely match those used in historic buildings, and for their signature wallpaper patterns made using traditional block, trough and roller methods with the company’s own paint, as well as for the the whimsical way they name their products.
Farrow & Ball’s steadfast commitment to quality and luxury has garnered significant attention, prompting the New York Times to review a shade of white paint created by the company, and inspiring a skit on Saturday Night Live.
In 2017 New York-based floral designer Lewis Miller caught the attention of Farrow & Ball with his use of “Floral Flashes” – large scale pop-up art installations that transformed the streets of New York with colorful flower arrangements. Miller became known at the “Florist Bandit” for the increasingly complex bouquets he created to add color to NYC’s morning commute. Believing Miller’s Floral Flashes would pair perfectly with Farrow & Ball’s brand identity, a partnership was born.
THE CHALLENGE
The goal of this new partnership was to create an experiential street-marketing campaign that celebrated a new collection of Farrow & Ball products by pairing their signature floral wallpaper with one of Lewis Miller’s Floral Flashes. According to Lewis Miller, they wanted to “(create) something truly spectacular, fresh and whimsical that celebrates the best of both our brands”.
To make that goal a reality they had to overcome two major challenges: How to effectively combine Farrow & Ball’s traditional two dimensional products with Miller’s more dynamic three dimensional floral installations, and how to do it in a way that would capture the public’s attention during one of the busiest times of the year: New York Fashion Week. They turned to posterGIANT to help make their vision a reality.
THE CAMPAIGN
posterGIANT worked with all the involved stakeholders to quickly identify two high traffic locations in New York that had both the necessary surfaces to properly display Farrow & Ball’s signature wallpaper, and the space needed to install a large-scale Floral Flash, and for the public to interact with the installation. posterGIANT assembled a team that worked through the night – first at an Uptown construction site where the city’s flagship Apple store is now located, and later in Lower Manhattan – to create a colorful interactive experience that surrounded a floral arrangement, composed of several wooden pallets layered with thousands of pink, coral & fuchsia blossoms, with walls covered in Farrow & Ball’s distinct wallpaper. The work was done under intense time pressure, so that the installations were finished in time for the morning commute.
THE OUTCOME
On the first day of Fashion Week 2017 commuters in New York City discovered what was previously a drab construction site on 5th Ave. had been transformed into a beautifully immersive experience, featuring thousands of blossoms passersby could take with them to add color to their day. The installation generated immediate buzz both on social media – thanks to the hashtag #FaBxLMD which had been stenciled onto the sidewalks nearby – and with the public, who were eager to pose for photos among the flowers.
The floral flash, and the 2nd one five days later, also drew considerable attention from the press, including a glowing article from Vogue, which said it might be the “prettiest show at New York Fashion Week”, and praised the team that worked through the night in the rain to complete the project by early morning. An article in the Observer identified the pair of “very instagrammable” arrangements as trending during Fashion Week, and yet another said Farrow & Ball proved that Fashion Week isn’t just for fashion anymore.