Herbal Essences + Nat Geo
“Secrets of the Garden”

We worked alongside Nat Geo Studios Branded Content team and our series production partners at Pilgrim to develop the story for the series and pull off a worldwide production documenting the amazing work of botanists to unlock the power of plants. In just over a month, we mapped out the storyline, secured international permits, and wrangled our doc-style crew to pull off a multi-country shoot without a hitch.

With unprecedented access to the experts, science, and research, we helped viewers increase their understanding of plants and the role they play through the lens they know and trust on Nat Geo. We traveled to find the origins of real botanicals like argan oil in Morocco and aloe in Texas, seeing how they make their way to Kew in London to be verified and ultimately into the hair and beauty products from Herbal Essences.

The multi-platform branded content campaign included a 30-minute branded special airing on National Geographic, as well as social and digital content that blanketed their O&O sites across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and native websites. In addition to a :30 custom vignette to promote the linear premiere, we created :60s and :15s exploring the naturally derived ingredients histidine, aloe, and argan oil. Custom Snaps and Instagram Stories rounded out the 360 marketing approach. They even created a custom emoji on Twitter to promote the show.

After the shoot, P&G came to us to create a stand-alone :15 commercial using the story we captured to further Herbal Essences’ message of why plants – and botanicals – matter to everyone. We’re proud to have our work extend beyond the National Geographic and Herbal Essences platforms, so even more viewers can get exposed to the knowledge and benefits of this unique partnership.