If you live in the South East, you will likely have seen the Freddie’s Flowers bicycles at train stations, and whizzing through London traffic. Pastel colours, quaint front baskets, cutesy and usually not far from a discount flyer (as below, from a recent delivery. How could it fail to be a marketing success? And that very question is the focus for this month's Brand Narratives! Let’s get into Freddie’s Flowers.
Founded in 2014, Freddie is a real person. His actual surname is Garland…wait…it gets better, he is also from flower stock. From his ‘roots’ in his parents’ flower shop (I’m just warming up), to the career he ‘bloomed’ in, (there are probably a few more of these) at Able & Cole in subscription sales and marketing - Freddie saw an opportunity to combat the flower waste he saw in his family biz and to normalise floral displays as an act of self care. Freddie set out to transform the flower business starting with single-handed milk float deliveries.
The problems he identified in the blooms and bulbs industries were that flowers were rarely a treat, mostly a gift. Bloom wastage, seasonality, and what had become an impersonal industry with the likes of Interflora trying to connect local Florists to local shoppers — but adding a premium price tag - was creating homogeny that meant the mainstream retail market was going stale. Freddie’s idea was to replant the seeds (I can’t stop now) of entrepreneurship and bring flowers back to their roots (these write themselves…).
📌 Founded in 2014, Freddie Garland set out on his milk float to deliver locally sourced flowers to celebrate the everyday.
📌 Scaling from a handful of local clients in their launch year, to 22,000 weekly deliveries by 2018, scaling further to over 100k weekly deliveries by 2023.
📌 Lockdown saw a 73% spike in subscriptions, as Freddie’s took advantage of another supply chain issue - florists and garden centres were closed but his subscription model could still deliver as we collectively understood the need for nice things in tough times.
📌 Current partnerships include Wool & The Gang (gift flowers and a craft), and recent brand partnership with Rapha bikes highlighting the e-bikes used, and doubling down on the green ethos and local vibes of what is realistically a growing multinational, which retains strong ties to its home market.
The brand narrative for Freddie’s is to put the joy of flowers into the everyday. The appeal of the brand is the ethics that powers it— a grow-to-order system that systematically looks to reduce existing waste, create less of it with their own practices and save overstock across the floral network. They are engaged with local growers, offer "standout stems that change with the seasons", and have fostered a community that likes, shares and contributes to content via UGC, with the same advocacy for product.
Freddie’s Flowers is just beautiful to look at. The social is wall-to-wall colour, movement, life. The font choice is demonstrably Freddie’s, with a limited colour palette letting the product speak for itself. It’s premium without feeling inaccessible - how-to reels on displaying flower types, blend easily with brand collabs and meet the team posts. They don’t broadcast the ethics readily on social because if you know you know, but if you’ve heard of Freddie’s, somehow as if by osmosis you understand their clean cut credentials. Largely this is brand at its best - the shop window reels you in on the power of the product, the 'funnel' e.g.. website, print collateral and above the line, focusses on converting you on the 'why'.
Competitors like Bloom & Wild have staked claims to Freddie’s garden of potential consumers, with Bloom & Wild gaining most ground nationally with quirky offerings like letterbox flowers from their 2013 launch & maionstream gifting partnerships, like the ability to add chocolates and teddies to an order.
Freddie’s subscription model was the only way to enjoy their flowers until 2023 - something that was a blocker for me as a consumer, even with the easy cancel option. Let’s face it, post-covid those subscribers who were once home all the time to receive their blooms, are naturally home less now to receive or enjoy the same. Flexible delivery options have opened their base to a new consumer space.
Launching one-off flowers (instead of subscription offerings) for Mother’s Day 2023 + new formats that increased flexibility for consumers like letterbox flowers, proved successful for Freddie’s in gaining ground and retaining more of their loyal base.
A quick win brand partnership with Rapha to highlight Freddie's continued use of bikes as a core delivery method - soft brand values reinforcement - is the latest tie up, bridging two engaged communities. The softly softly on brand collabs is linked to their brand ethos which is gentle but persistent. They're on your road on bikes, they're at the train station with discounts, they're bringing life to your feed - just like the blooms they deliver, they are all around but never in your face.
Sustainability ✅
Local feel ✅
Approachable face of the business ✅
Clear USP ✅
Freddie’s was early to the sustainability vibes that are so prominent a focus in consumer goods now, sustainability is a core brand value and quietly central to their brand messaging - and they continue to crest the wave.
The 'green points' that have become so important to consumers remains a driver to their conversion success with clear, demonstrable ‘why’s’ in the buying journey: ‘fully recyclable/biodegradable packaging’, ‘low carbon deliveries’ and they are a registered BCorp.
The authenticity works for the human consumer, the authority signals of great digital PR and partnerships, clear website messaging, supported by consistent brand messaging across platforms.
The what sells the why making Freddie’s positioning and execution a repeat win for visiility...and no, you cant have the discount code from my flowers flyer.
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