Gardening felt distant to a new generation. It lived in expert language, suburban backyards, and seasonal rhythms that did not align with urban life. After a long winter, people were craving spring, but many could not actually plant anything yet. Miracle-Gro needed to reach younger, digital-first audiences who did not see gardening as accessible or relevant. This was not just a seasonal push. It was a chance to shift brand perception.
My Role: Content Marketing Lead
Spring is a vibe, but gardening often requires patience, space, and conditions people do not have yet. Traditional gardening content asked for commitment before excitement. The challenge was finding a way to let people participate in the feeling of spring immediately, without tools, soil, or expertise, and to do it in a way that felt native to how younger audiences communicate.
#SpringMoji turned anticipation into action. By launching on the first day of spring and using the language people already spoke, emojis, Miracle-Gro invited participation without friction. Engagement felt effortless, playful, and culturally relevant. Digital interaction lowered the barrier, while follow-on content helped translate that energy into real-world behavior. The brand did not show up as an expert talking down. It showed up as a catalyst, making spring feel possible before the first seed ever hit the soil.
We met people where they already were: on their phones, on social, speaking in emojis.
In partnership with 360i, we launched the world's first crowdsourced emoji garden. On the first day of spring, every tweet using a plant emoji and #SpringMoji planted that emoji into a living, real-time digital garden at springmoji.com.
The execution was simple. No app. No onboarding. Just participation. The idea tapped into behavior people already understood and turned it into shared anticipation.
As Content Marketing Lead at Miracle-Gro, my goal was to find transformative ways to leverage platforms creatively, especially for a brand that hadn't operated in this space before. I briefed 360i to think expansively about reaching the next generation of gardeners. #SpringMoji came back as one of several ideas, but it was immediately clear this one had real legs. A big idea with the potential to make genuine noise in the category.
From there, my job was to see its full potential and champion it internally. For a non-digital-first company, a first-of-its-kind social activation requires more than a good idea. It requires building belief: navigating skepticism, having every conversation, and communicating a nonconventional concept with enough clarity and conviction to earn trust. The approval was a signal of that trust. The results validated it.
No app. No onboarding. A behavior people already used, turned into participation.
Each post visibly added to a living garden, creating momentum people could see.
Emoji language made the brand feel current and easy to engage with.
Built internal belief that this was a brand shift, not a short-term stunt.
Creators carried the energy beyond the screen and into real-world planting.
Select moments from the work.
