Interview: Zoë Franklin shares insights from 20 years in the communications industry
An interview with Zoë Franklin, formerly Deputy Head of Press at the V&A and now Director of Communications and Events at Horatio's Garden. Zoë talks to us about practical sustainability, comms golden rules and tips for career success.
You have been involved in some huge projects in your career, from headline exhibitions at the V&A such as Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, to the recent Best in Show Gold Medal win for Horatio’s at the Chelsea Flower Show. Are there any communications golden rules that you follow to give yourself the best chance of success?
Whether it’s a campaign for an international fashion exhibition or a show garden at the leading flower show in the world, there are definitely golden rules to follow. There’s a lot of planning involved with these large projects and it’s key to set clear objectives and know what success looks like for your organisation.
It’s crucial to identify and know your audience and then be clear on your messaging to make sure it resonates with them. There are so many channels that you can use to reach your audience so to consider what is going to be most effective – usually a mix of more traditional and digital. It’s more vital than ever to include your own digital channels as part of this too.
What are the people stories you can tell and how does it connect to wider themes whether that might for example craftsmanship or popular culture or newsworthy events? Also who else can help tell the story and reach a wider audience – consider working with advocates and ambassadors to do this. As part of the campaign you will need to organise and produce photography, film and sometimes print content to help tell the story so working with brilliant creatives to a super clear brief is helpful.
Being organised is key so you are really clear on what needs to happen at which point in the campaign and lastly being adaptable as your plan will not always be a linear path – be ready to make adjustments and capitalise on opportunities may come along that you weren’t expecting!
What was the most defining moment of your career that led you to where you are today?
I would say this would be my first break in PR which arrived following my speculative application to a PR and design company BowlesAssociates in my university town. This happily gave me my grounding in communications and an appreciation of the integral power of great design and branding. Probably my time at Idea Generation, an arts and lifestyle PR agency in Camden then Shoreditch where I worked across some incredible projects from the inaugural Frieze Art Fair to the ICA and Design Museum. I learnt so much about discipline, planning, teamwork, creativity as well as PR during this time and it was such a buzzing time to be involved in the art world!
What advice would you give your younger self, starting out in your career, that you wished you had been given?
I would say the importance of building a strong network – people that you can call on for advice, collaboration and who open the door to new opportunities and also to stay curious, open minded and keep building skills. The world of communications looks very different in some ways today to when I started out!
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the communications industry what would it be and why?
I think it’s probably the loss of authenticity in some areas when we see the spread of misinformation so it’s just so crucial for brands to build credibility and work with other trusted channels of communication.
Are there any great exhibitions on at the moment anywhere that you can either recommend or you really want to go to?
I’d really like to get to the Now You See Us exhibition at Tate Britain looking at 400 years of pioneering women artists and also catch the tapestries at my previous workplace Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery by the great chronicler of contemporary life Grayson Perry. Next year, I think the Design and Disability exhibition at the V&A will be really powerful as it shines a light on disabled creators and their contribution to design and contemporary culture.
As a B Corp, we have been assessing every part of our business to work out what we can do to improve our impact. Can you talk us through any interesting aspects of Horatio’s Garden designs when it comes to sustainability? I remember there was a cement-free paving slab used in the Chelsea Flower Show garden which I loved at the time.
Practical sustainability is one of our core values as an organisation. On a day-to-day basis, that might mean not using chemicals in the gardens, using locally grown plants and peat free compost. But it’s also looking at new solutions like when we had the amazing opportunity last year to create a show garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the brilliant designers Harris Bugg Studio developed a brand new terrazzo surface material that was completely smooth for wheelchairs and beds but also environmentally responsible. They made it from cement-free low carbon cement from crushed waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill.
“At Horatio’s Garden, we aim to produce design and creative that resonates with people and encourages an emotional connection to our purpose and intention.”
Here at We Mean This, we are very interested in the concept of meaningful design. What does that phrase mean to you in the context of Horatio’s Garden?
At Horatio’s Garden, we aim to produce design and creative that resonates with people and encourages an emotional connection to our purpose and intention. We are also very interested in incorporating eco-friendly and sustainable practices into the designs. We Mean This has really helped us brilliantly embody these ideas into the design of our website, branding and print materials.
Horatio’s Garden is on a quest to design and build life changing therapeutic gardens in all 11 NHS spinal injury centres in the UK, with 7 already complete and the 8th opening in the summer of 2024. What is the single biggest obstacle to you completing the goal? What can people do to help you overcome this challenge?
It a simple but extremely powerful idea to create gardens to help people after life-changing and devastating injury, a place to connect with nature as they adjust and heal. But as an independent charity, it’s challenging to not only raise the money to create the gardens but the sustainable funding year on year to keep them thriving. There are so many brilliant ways that people can help however. This could be supporting us with a regular donation, seeing if your business could support us as its charity of the year, taking on a sporting challenge for us or hosting a Garden Gathering – our community fundraiser – we’d love to hear from you!
Get in touch if you have a design project you want to discuss.
🔗 We gave Horatio’s Garden a brand refresh and redesigned their website back in 2023, you can read our case study here, and visit their website here.
For more insights and We Mean This updates, sign up to our quarterly newsletter here.