Caring Is Intense, as This Sweet Florist Ad Reminds Us

Other, a new creative agency spun off of Mother London, has released its first work a day after announcing its own opening: “Care Wildly,” for flower firm Bloom & Wild.

The ad doesn’t showcase the splashy moment when a bouquet of flowers lands in a recipient’s arms. In fact, you never see a person receive them. Instead, we witness the intense emotional universe of the sender, contemplating her purchase and its reasons.

It was sweet, and made us text our sisters.

“So often our category is guilty of only presenting smiling women with perfect lives. And to be honest, we haven’t done much to challenge that to date,” says Charlotte Langley, the brand and communications director for Bloom & Wild. “With our new ‘Care Wildly’ platform, we want to honestly reflect the complex, supportive and beautiful relationships and moments we choose to mark by sending flowers.”

The ad went live Tuesday during The Great British Bake-Off on Channel 4, and will run in the U.K. before penetrating the E.U. market next year. 

As for agency Other, it formally launched on the 19th, with the hope of being “a reflection of these unique times … celebrating curiosity, feeding restless minds and cultivating strong opinions.” The team is composed of business lead Paulo Salomao (ex-W&K), strategy lead Sarah Oberman (ex-Grey London), creative lead Kyle Harman-Turner (ex-Mother), and lead maker Metz Bryan-Fasano (ex-VMLY&R).

“What kept me and my partners going, when we started Mother 24 years ago, was a simple philosophy about our culture, and a belief that great creativity lives best in an independent environment,” says Robert Saville, Mother’s founder. “Now, after the Mother London team have cemented their reputation as one of the best agencies anywhere in the world … we are proud to welcome Other to the family.”

Besides Bloom & Wild, initial Other clients include Grundig home appliances and The Out, Jaguar Land Rover’s car rental service. 

The goal of “Care Wildly” is to reposition “care,” as a category and a concept, from something passive to something actionable, vulnerable, brave and fierce—an apt message for 2020. In the case of the ad, that pretty, polished moment when a person receives flowers is rightfully sidestepped. It centers on the love story between sisters, composed not only of childhood mirth but also deep grief.

To push this fiercer side of care further, 15 percent of profits from every Bloom & Wild Florist’s Pick bouquet will go to Carers Trust, the U.K.’s leading charity for unpaid caregivers.

The brand is also the first to recognize that certain category peaks, like Mother’s Day, aren’t really all that welcome to many customers. So people who use its service have the option to opt out of reminders for certain calendar dates. This is now part of something it calls the “Thoughtful Marketing Movement,” which now includes 130 member brands.

“Bloom & Wild care wildly for their customers. The founder went around London measuring different letterbox sizes to ensure that the product would deliver just right. They even have a job title of ‘Customer Delight Lead,’ for goodness sake,” says Other creative lead Harman-Turner.

“Fuse that with Other, who care wildly about making work that resonates with real people, and pushes past the category clichés, and we’re setting out on an exciting journey together. ‘Care Wildly’ is a platform that can live for the next 10, 20 years. Even beyond.”