Strongbow’s Floating Orchard Sets Sail in New York

New Yorkers are set to get a surprising, summery treat as the city plays host to a floating orchard – an intriguing collaboration between nature art barge Swale, creative agency Cloudfactory and Strongbow.

The barge has opened one week after the brand revealed its 2017 global campaign film, A Nature Dream, which features nature artists Mr. Plant (Christophe Guinet) and Mary Mattingly (the visionary behind the ‘floating food forest’ Swale). Mary’s barge has been transformed into an idyllic orchard which will be open to the public.

The campaign follows on from the brand’s first ‘Nature Remix’ project, which saw the brand plant an orchard in the centre of Johannesburg – and in order to push things even further and get even more playful, they’ve undertaken the ambitious engineering and landscaping project. As a relatively young brand at a global level (outside of the UK, where it is more established), the team are hoping to embed Strongbow in the mind of consumers as a brand associated with refreshment and nature. But the experiential elements are just as important as the big, playful film pieces as the marketing team and the Cloudfactory team know that the brand needs to be taking action rather than simply talking.

“Nature Remix is all about giving people unexpected doses of nature and what could be more unexpected than an apple orchard, on a barge, circling New York City,” says Strongbow’s Jessica Robinson.

If you can’t make it to New York, the brand has released a film that shows how the barge was transformed, with artists and marketers alike getting their hands dirty in order to create the bucolic scene. 

Last week, LBB spoke to Cloudfactory, Heineken (which owns Strongbow), Mary Mattingly and Mr. Plant to explore the insight and intention underpinning the campaign. You can read about that here.