Good Things
Book Launch
Role: Strategist
Maryah Greene is New York’s premiere plant doctor & stylist. She’s a former educator with a huge passion for education and coming along children. From that passion, Maryah has written a children’s book called Good Things which has been published through Penguin Random House and launched on August 1st, 2023. The book talks about grief through the lens of house plants
Background
Task
Put a face to the grief & sadness in young black boys and equip educators with a tool to recognize and validate it.
Expand the Greene Piece brand through increased speaking engagements and more opportunities to work with kids
Audience
Meet Jessica, our Avatar Reader, a passionate and socially-conscious elementary school teacher in her early 30s. Hailing from the heartland, she's determined to make a positive impact. Jessica faces the challenge of forging connections with her black students in the Bronx. Good Things provides her with a tangible tool that acts as a mirror and window, letting her students know she truly sees and understands them as they gather on the classroom mat.
Problem
Good Things” isn’t just another cutesy children’s book and needs to get into the hands of all the Jessicas out there. Though Maryah has good following on Instagram & TikTok, it’s not a lot of Jessicas.
Insight
This isn’t a book about death. This is a book about life and how to care for the living after loss.
Strategy
Identify Maryah's audience and plan communication frequency based on engagement levels. Find influential contacts with established audiences for Maryah to connect with, Launch an email campaign targeting Maryah's close friends and family to boost Amazon reviews during Launch Week, Secure media exposure for Maryah through podcasts, TV, blogs, and influencer partnerships, Execute paid Amazon promotions, especially during Back-to-School peak times.
These strategies were integrated into a comprehensive launch calendar covering two months leading up to the launch day, during the launch week, and in the months following the launch.
Meet Maryah
Maryah Greene (@greene.piece) is a New York based, Japan-bred Plant Doctor & Consultant and founder of Greene Piece. What started as an Instagram account filled with plant tips and tricks, has blossomed into a full-blown business. She solidified her position as New York’s go-to plant stylist following appearances and features in The New York Times, Vogue, Good Morning America and more.
When I saw Maryah’s job posting for a strategist to head up the strategy behind the launch of her new book, I jumped at the chance to go along for the ride. I was hired three months before the book was set to launch on August 1st, 2023 and I got right to work.
Malcolm loves everything about his dad, "Pops"; the way he looks out for everyone in the neighborhood; the way he always seems to know the right thing to say, and especially, the way he cares for his plants. Malcolm has dreamed of having plants that will grow as big and healthy as Pop’s but making that into a reality is turning out to be much harder than he thought. To keep him going, Pops reminds Malcolm that "Good things take time." But when Pops unexpectedly passes away, and his plants are left to Malcolm; Malcolm feels like there is too much responsibility on his shoulders and hurt in his heart.
With Good Things, Maryah Greene tells a tender and honest story about loss, hope and memory. While gorgeous and colorful illustrations by Alleanna Harris bring this world to life.
Meet “Good Things”
National News
ABC News Live' is the network’s Emmy-award winning streaming and OTT news channel, airing weekdays beginning at 9am ET. The network averages 26 million monthly viewers, and 30 million hours streamed
across 26 distributed platforms including Hulu.
I pitched Maryah to ABC News Live & here she is doing an interview with Diane Macedo on August 23rd, 2023.
What Maryah Thought:
“Danica is an exceptionally hard working creative strategist and hiring her was one of the best decisions I've ever made for my business. During her time at Greene Piece, Danica blew me away with her knack for all things brand, strategy and organization. Whether it was crafting a strategy-driven campaign for my book release, solidifying Greene Piece's brand identity or just brainstorming fresh ideas, she always brought her A-game.
What really impressed me was how Danica took big-picture concepts and turned them into actionable strategies and steps. She's got this awesome mix of creativity and analytical smarts that just works wonders. But it's not just about the work with Danica. She's also an awesome teammate and leader. She knows how to show up everyday with positivity, keep everyone motivated, and make work feel like fun.
Long story short, Danica is amazing and delivers results. If you're looking for someone to take your brand strategy to the next level, you've found them.”