Pothos, Monstera, Ficus. Strategist, problem solver, critical thinker. These sets of words don’t typically go hand-in-hand. So what do they have in common and why am I bringing them up? Here is the correlation that literally no one asked for.
The world of indoor plants: an ever-growing industry, as more and more people add greenery to their homes to, no pun intended, spruce up their living quarters and appeal to their aesthetic desires. But this is not as simple as framing a photo and hanging it on a wall, these are living, breathing entities. They have needs, many actually, and unlike people, they can’t articulate them to you directly. The whole process can feel, in many instances, like a giant guessing game that sometimes leaves you scratching your head.
So what’s the point?
A day-in-the-life of an advertising strategist can also be a head scratcher: being faced with a consistent string of problems, most of which never have a clear, black and white solution or path forward. Sure, data has its role and can help inform solutions, but even data can be a little subjective. There are too many variables involved that can make the data easy to misconstrue. The same goes for plant care. The amount of variables that go into keeping a plant successful (see also: alive) is overwhelming. You need to understand those variables, monitor the results over (the right period of) time, and figure out how you need to evolve or pivot your strategy to make your circumstances work best for you, with a willingness and humbleness to lean on experts or even abandon an idea altogether.
TLDR; to cultivate the ultimate success in both advertising strategy and in plant care, you need to:
Identify problems early on
Be willing to get your hands dirty
Dig deep on what’s working and what’s not (and why)
Do your research
Lean on outside resources (sunshine, thought leaders)
Remind yourself: it’s not always an exact science and it’s ok to abandon ship
Have fun :)