Honest 2022 in review

Honest 2022 in review

Here we are in January and we’re already bursting with excitement for all we have planned for 2023, but it’s only right that before we get stuck into the new year, we take stock and look back at 2022!

It was definitely the year of getting back out and about and we loved it! An absolute highlight was the Garden Press Event in March. The GPE is one of my favourite events and it was amazing to get back to the show in person to catch up with so many people in the industry. This year was more special as we had a mini-Honest takeover, complete with our very own map! We had 10 brands exhibiting all in a row, making journalists’ lives easier as they only had one area to visit to get all they needed! For selfish reasons too, the Honest team (and their feet) were grateful for being in one place! I spent the day grinning like a proud parent at having such an awesome team and so many fabulous brands in our portfolio and loved seeing clients mingling with each other. We can’t wait for this year’s show!

Shows continued with the pinnacle – the Chelsea Flower Shower – followed by a busy summer of RHS shows and Gardeners’ World Live. In-person meetings with clients and journalists, with days down to London and all over the country, became the norm again. Hallelujah! We’re such a sociable bunch at Honest (some may say too much but hey, we work in comms), and you just can’t beat an in-person meeting to truly be productive and creative all while building relationships.

The Honest family has continued to grow with new clients and new team members joining. In February, we welcomed the utterly wonderful CJ Wildlife and its array of wildlife products. Later in the year, we were also appointed by Cultivar Greenhouses, the SAGE Sports and Grounds Expo, and Perennial to handle the PR for its Grubby Gardeners naked gardener calendar for 2022. Right up our street!!

Results have been flooding in and barely a day went by without national newspaper mentions, expert commentary in top-tier titles, influencer tags, and 5* product reviews flying in. For me, the feeling of landing an amazing piece of coverage never goes away and I know the Honest team feel the same as there’s genuine excitement in the office when a piece lands and a campaign goes live.

We were certainly been busy bees and there are too many campaigns to list BUT here are a few…

• We launched the new organic houseplant food from the iconic Baby Bio

• We arranged some amazing influencer campaigns for Phostrogen to launch its new organic range

• We secured endless product reviews and best buy features for Cobra

• We started a new partnership between CJ Wildlife and Roadchef that we hope will continue for many years to come

• We hosted a press event for the opening of the beautiful Hillier Garden Centre in Syon Park

• We promoted a whole host of wonderful initiatives for the planet, from elho’s Ocean Pots made from old fishing nets to Seedball working with the BBC, Green Planet and David Attenborough (casual) to supply a million wildflower seed balls to schools

• We made sure that the EP Barrus brands of WOLF-Garten, Wilkinson Sword and Town & Country were popping up in all the right places with product placement features left right and centre. Fay’s certainly kept Hollie busy with lots of coverage to be logging!

• We won awards and Indy Best Features with Clean Living for the launch of its new range

• We ramped up Oxenwood’s social media following – trebling the Instagram following and making sure that more than 50% of all website traffic came from social.

We had a busy summer with new team members joining each month – Hollie in July, Emma in August and Charlie in September. We may have plans for some new faces in 2023 too…

As Honest grows and new faces join, it’s really important to me that we stay a strong team and that Honest remains true to its roots, and that our ethos shines through in all we do. I’ve always stressed that I want Honest to be a place where the team are proud to say they work at, that people are desperate to apply for jobs at, and that is a place that I’d want to work. I never want my team to have the Sunday evening dread about going to work the next day so we’ve made sure we have lots in place to help with this.

The Honest team took full advantage of their wellbeing budget and found ways to relax outside of work and take care of themselves. Beth was appointed our Party President, and Fay took the lead on our internal engagement to make sure everyone remains happy, and things are working efficiently.  We’ve been to the outdoor cinema, had regular trips to the pub, we did a sponsored charity walk, we painted pumpkins, we held monthly knowledge shares and team talks, we went bowling, we ate pizza and we had too many fuddles to count (which will mean very little to people outside of Derby apparently).

We also gained some new enhancements to the office with a walking desk, a new tea tray that has revolutionised drinks rounds, and the Honest Birthday Crown (worn with utter pride and bringing sheer joy).

We have so much lined up for 2023 already and some very exciting announcements to come so stay tuned!