How a brand-new idea (adopt a pistachio tree, share in its harvest) went from a pitch-deck sentence to a brand people could understand, trust and buy as a gift.
This is how Abdi Moinian first described his business to me: “A company that generates social, environmental & financial benefits by creating a new agro-farming crowd platform, where adoption of trees and investment in agriculture is made accessible to the masses.”
Every word of it is true. And unless you’d already decided to invest, you probably drifted off somewhere around “agro-farming”.
He knew it, too. When I asked what worried him most about talking to his audience, he said: “Them understanding the concept in a few seconds…how do we get them interested?”
That rare thing – a new idea, but only a few seconds to explain it
MyTreehood lets people adopt a tree on an organic farm, follow how it’s growing, and take a share of what it produces, either as income or (eventually) as the harvest itself. You could be closer to nature without having to buy a field or don wellies. You could start with just one tree.
There was a lot to fit into those few seconds. Abdi’s key messages covered the fun of adopting a tree, a way to diversify your investments, learning about orchards and agriculture, organic farming that’s good for the soil, a share of one of the healthiest nuts going, and jobs for the people who work the land. All of it mattered to him, and he was trying to say it all at once.
Two very different people, one tree
The audience research narrowed Abdi’s “anyone, really” into two people with very different reasons to buy.
The first I called the Non-Conformist. She has money to invest and no interest in taking the traditional route. She wants her investments to be environmentally and socially credible, she’s nervous about risk in a new area, and (honestly) she’d quite like something better to talk about at parties than her pension.
The second was the Thoughtful Gifter, looking for a present that isn’t mass-produced, that shows she put some thought in, and that lasts longer than a box of chocolates. She may not know much about investing at all, and she’s not really interested in learning loads about it right now.
The same research turned up three reasons either of them might walk away:
- trust and financial risk,
- not understanding how it works (the investing or the farming),
- and a healthy suspicion of anything calling itself “green”.
Everyone else was telling one story
Then I looked at where else those people might go.
- Treedom sold tree gifts with a personal touch
- Ecologi was all about doing good for the planet, with no investment angle at all
- Ecotree talked about sustainable forestry
- The Walnut Fund focused on the money, leaning on jargon like “generational wealth” and “democratize investments” to sound credible.
The other brands were each telling one story about trees. MyTreehood could tell the whole story (the money and the meaning) without the jargon.
So the Brand Messaging Guide set out a voice that was educational, friendly and fun, and three key messages to carry everything else:
- Invest in something more interesting than tech stocks, and more tangible than bitcoin
- Get closer to your food
- Do something good for the planet with your money
It also set out how to answer the three barriers.
- Explain the whole process, from handing over your money to the end of your tree’s life, as simply as possible
- Use trust markers (partnerships, credentials, clear numbers on risk and return, behind-the-scenes content from the orchards)
- And be honest about farming’s environmental limits, because that’s what makes the green claims believable
Trees with Benefits
Then we put the Guide to work on the website, including my favourite headline I’ve ever written.
When the site launched, the homepage spoke to both buyers. For the Non-Conformist, a section called “Break free from boring” asked why you’d invest like your grandad. For the Thoughtful Gifter, there was a gift route right there on the homepage. “Farm without the wellies” brought in the part about getting closer to your food. And “How it works” walked through the whole thing in five plain steps, from choosing your tree to receiving your share of the harvest, because the Guide said the simpler the explanation, the more likely people are to trust it.
A long-lasting investment
The Brand Messaging Guide gave MyTreehood a clear sense of who it’s talking to and what they need to hear, so that three years on, every new piece of work still has something to stand on.
Over the last 3 years, Abdi and I have used it to build social media strategies, reach out to influencers, and create a gifting guide.
So more people can get closer to the soil (without wellies), and munch on their very own pistachio nuts!
Got an idea that’s hard to explain in a sentence?
If you’ve built something that does lots of good things at once, there’s a fair chance your audience is getting all of them at the same time (and remembering none of them). A Brand Messaging Guide sorts out who your thing is really for, what they need to hear first (the rest can wait), and how to show them they can trust you.
Have a look at the Brand Messaging Guide here, or book a call and we’ll talk it through, no pressure or obligation.