Did you know that Tulip Trees can grow to more than 35 metres high?
Nor did we…
That is, until we got involved with the ceremonial planting of a Tulip Tree for our PR client, the Consortium behind the development of Sherford, Devon’s unique and award-winning new town.
This Tulip Tree was chosen to take root at Sherford to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing from Plymouth to America.
Expected to grow to approximately 12 metres tall, a green icon, to stand proudly at the heart of this growing sustainable community.
But lockdown meant the precious Tulip Tree stood in wait for weeks.
In early July, we finally got the go ahead for the Tulip Tree to move to its new home. right in the midst of lockdown. The ceremonial planting set to take place on the very first day our new PR company, Analogy, became ‘official’.
Launch through a lens
Launch events took on a different character during the pandemic, and this one was no exception.
A small socially-distant ceremony saw the celebratory tree craned into position. Every moment of the three-tonne mammoth being settled into its new home captured on camera, and shared online.
Instagram Stories became the viewfinder for residents and media to take part.
As people adjust to engaging with their world more and more via a screen, this digital launch event drew in audiences both near and far.
Instagram brought eyes on Sherford from distances well beyond the reach of the local media coverage.
Pre-pandemic, an ‘old-school’ launch event may have brought the community together, and gained local press interest, but would it have branched out to reach so many new audiences?
Life and work during the pandemic brings with it many challenges, but sometimes it also brings new opportunities.
As PR professionals, it is in our nature to find new or better ways of doing things.
And so it felt poignant that the planting of this commemorative and special tree should be number one on the to do list on the day Analogy was officially born.
As founding partners of Analogy, we have worked together for the best part of two decades, sometimes as colleagues, at other times as each other’s client or adviser. Finding our feet as seasoned PR professionals in a global pandemic, the time was right to put down new roots as a partnership.
Why Analogy?
As PR professionals we talk in analogies quite a lot. Analogies are how our human brains most readily visualise problems, and find solutions, which is what we do every day for our clients.
In PR, we also use analogies every day to communicate on behalf of our clients, to tell their stories in ways that engage people and inspire action.
You might think, given one of our PR sector specialisms is the built environment, that we would choose a more ‘bricks and mortar’ based analogy to tell our own launch story.
But starting our business in a pandemic is a more organic process than that.
Like being that small seed that experiences starting out in life in the dark soil before it reaches the light above ground. It starts small – a thought, an idea, which slowly takes root. And then when the conditions are right, it emerges and begins to form.
As a business, we have put down roots and found water quickly, establishing a solid core before growing up and out, while helping our clients to do the same. And it feels blooming marvellous!
