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Harvey Platt

Harvey Platt graduated from the Business School in 2019 with a BA in Economics. We catch up with him to hear how a chance meeting with a new friend at Sussex, resulted in the formation of the highly successful business venture Floom Creative, a sustainable and ethical marketing agency, based in London.

Tell us about Floom Creative, how did you come up with the idea for the business model?

Floom Creative was created by two friends, myself and Fin Kinsella, whom I met on our first day at the University of Sussex in 2016. Fin was doing a BA in Film Studies, whilst I was a BA Economics student at the Business School.

After graduating from Sussex in 2019, I was working with a marketing agency whilst also studying for an MSc in Environmental Policy and Management, and Fin was working for a production agency making documentaries.

I have always had a passion for sustainability from a young age due to my love of surfing. But, still working for a mainstream agency, I was not passionate about the companies we worked with or comfortable with their sustainability credentials. I wanted to work with businesses that positively impact the world we live in.

Fin and I chatted in 2021 and said, “Why don't we create our purpose-led agency? What have we got to lose?” We decided to combine our skills and passions by starting a sustainable and ethical brand marketing agency. We wanted our business to offer a unique blend of experience, combining in-depth knowledge of environmental policy with exceptional video production and marketing expertise. After brainstorming a name and brand identity ideas, Floom Creative was born.

To begin with, we both still worked in our ‘day jobs’ whilst undertaking Floom work on the side, then made the jump in February 2022 to leave our jobs and go full-time in the business.

You are partnered with Ecologi, another sustainability-focused business. How do you work together to tackle climate change?

We work with several brands to ensure our sustainability credentials are at the forefront of what we do.

We work with ecologi.com to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through tree planting and investing in carbon reduction technologies and renewable sources. Offsetting is not the silver bullet of climate action, which some companies claim, but it is a part of the overall solution if it considers biodiversity and lifecycle analysis of an individual offsetting scheme.

Floom has also started the process of becoming B Corp Certified. This involves taking part in an assessment of our agency to ensure we meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, so we will be legally required to consider the impact of our decisions on our team, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

We are also Albert Sustainable Production trained. As the makers of visual content for our clients at Floom Creative, we take this seriously. So, we are partnering with Albert, utilising their tools and training to ensure we are ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainable production and what we can do to reduce our environmental impact.

Further to this, we are a Stripe Climate Member. Removing CO₂ from the atmosphere is critical to counteract climate change, but it needs to be happening more widely and quickly. A fraction of every purchase from Floom Creative helps new carbon removal technologies scale up.

As part of the Clean Creatives movement, we have pledged to decline future contracts with the fossil fuel industry. We also host our clients and our website on renewable energy. Overall, no business is perfect, but we are doing everything we can to reduce our impact and partner with organisations that put the planet and people over profit.

How do you see your business growing over the next five years?

Over the next five years, we want to focus more on the business's visual content and storytelling side. Storytelling and creating narratives have the most impact in changing people's perspectives and getting them to think differently about the issues.

We also want to grow the consultancy and strategy side of the business. Our job as creatives is to inspire the ‘not conscious’ to become aware of the impact and seriousness of the issues that will arise. There are many businesses out there that want to be more sustainable but need help figuring out where to start. If we can be the vehicle for helping companies transition, and then market them with solid sustainability claims, it's a win-win for business and the planet.

Climate change and sustainability are now more critical than ever. We see the impact everywhere: record temperatures, flooding, forest fires, low ice extent and biodiversity loss. September 2023 globally was the warmest month ever on record.

How has the Business School helped develop your entrepreneurship skills?

My economics degree was a significant foundational element in understanding how businesses can operate on a macro and micro level.

The career fairs were also useful, as it was interesting to see what was out there. I went on several internship applicant days but felt they were not suitable for me.

The entrepreneurship team at Sussex were a great help in getting Floom off the ground. We were lucky to be on the first entrepreneurship accelerator, which helped us get everything in place. After the six-week programme, we were lucky enough to have won the Santander Elevant grant, which we invested in a new camera and lens, which helped us when we first started as camera equipment is an expensive fixed cost.

Do you have any advice for students wishing to launch their own start-up company?

My advice to anyone wanting to do their own thing or sitting on an idea is to do it. I used to be so scared of failure, but now I genuinely don't care, as you learn so much on the way, which is invaluable in so many areas of your life.

My other advice is to become a specialist in your field. We wanted to focus on sustainability, which was risky when first starting, but we now see the benefits. Working and knowing a particular industry inside and out sets you apart.

Were there any course modules that led you to your sustainability-focused marketing career?

Two modules come to mind, which were a great foundational element of a sustainability-focused marketing career. The first was Behavioural Economics. A topic covered and delivered in detail about the psychological underpinnings of economic behaviour rather than the economic theory we had previously learned in the course. It enlightened me about marketing, why some advertisements work, and how businesses use different marketing principles within their business models.

The second module I enjoyed was Environmental Economics. It covered the basics of the economics of the environment and environmental policy and discussed externalities, optimality, sustainability, cost-benefit analysis and their ethical foundations.

This module was vital to me, enabling me to understand the issues the World and the UK face regarding the environment and how policy affects outcomes. As a result of studying this module, I wanted to do something related to sustainability, not just finance related.

What current projects are you working on?

We are working on several interesting projects.

Floom partnered with Ethical Power one of the UK’s first vertically integrated renewable energy companies, to create an engaging and informative video showcasing their core values, diverse teams, and impactful projects. The project aimed to craft a compelling narrative highlighting Ethical Power's commitment to sustainable energy solutions, its global presence, and the collaborative efforts of its talented workforce.

Another project which stands out is a documentary we filmed over the summer for the Hunchman Trust. The Hunchman Trust is being established in memory of Julian Grant Smith, also known as Hunch, by his sons Charlie, Ben, and Chester, and aims to raise funds for charities supporting families who have lost a loved one to suicide.

The trust is being launched alongside a fundraising challenge called ‘The Hunchman 500’ which we filmed over seven days. The challenge involves running from the family home in Fetcham, Surrey, to the Quantocks in Somerset, where their father’s ashes were scattered, and then cycling back to Reeds Weybridge, covering a total distance of 500km over seven days. The challenge's goal is to gather support and raise funds for the trust while honouring their father’s memory and creating awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.

Form more information, watch The Hunchman 500 l A documentary for the Hunchman Trust l Leaving no one behind.

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