Case Study: Campaign for Wishgarden Herbs
Building a Year’s Worth of Content in Two Days
WishGarden Herbs x Roo Smith - Meet the Moment Campaign
Introduction: Why WishGarden
When WishGarden Herbs reached out about expanding their direct-to-consumer content, I knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary shoot. WishGarden isn’t just another wellness company with a few tinctures on a shelf. They’ve been making herbal remedies since 1979, led by their founder Catherine Hunziker, who is equal parts activist, herbalist, and pioneer. Their reputation is built not only on the effectiveness of their blends but also on a deep authenticity with an ethos of community, activism, and holistic living that resonates with a younger, Zennial audience.
So the challenge wasn’t just to make videos that looked nice. It was to create content that felt true to this heritage, while also being flexible enough to fuel modern digital marketing for nearly a year.
The Challenge
WishGarden had a clear need: build out a 10-month content library - not one flashy campaign, but a bank of videos and photos they could pull from across product launches, seasonal themes, and ongoing social media.
The brief was ambitious. We would:
Produce 10 short-form videos optimized for both social media and web.
Capture hundreds of lifestyle photos for use across ads, email, and site refreshes.
Do it all in two shooting days with a mix of families, friends, and Zennial-aged talent (younger millennials/older Gen Z)
In short: build almost a year’s worth of assets in less than 48 hours.
My Role as Production Partner
While my official title is often Director, my role extended far beyond pointing a camera. I was WishGarden’s production partner - responsible for making sure every moving piece came together seamlessly. That included:
Creative Development: Helping shape each concept into a clear story that matched WishGarden’s monthly marketing themes: immune support, sleep, stress relief, digestive health, women’s wellness, and seasonal campaigns like holiday gifting.
Pre-Production: Collaborating with the WishGarden team on casting, building shot lists, scheduling scenes for optimal light, and scouting both house interiors and outdoor locations in Boulder.
Production Leadership: Directing two full days of shooting with over a dozen talent, a hair and makeup artist, a stylist and a photographer, as well some huge help from the Wishgarden staff to keep the logistics tight.
Post-Production: Editing and color grading all 10 videos, creating vertical and horizontal cuts, mixing audio, and licensing music that felt organic and modern.
In other words, I wore all the hats. But this is what I love helping brands not only execute but translate their identity into visuals that feel true to who they are.
Day 1: Indoors & Town Lifestyle
Our first shoot day took place at a house in Boulder and around the streets of Lafayette. The goal was to capture domestic rituals like the fun lifestyle of mornings with kids, the quiet of winding down before sleep, and the warmth of gifting or gathering with friends.
Day 2: Outdoor Wellness
The second day was about connection to nature which took us to gardens, a meandering creek, mountains, and firelight. We filmed mostly around Boulder, with the exception of the campfire and the stylish walking scene where we filmed at the founder’s home.
The Deliverables
By the end of these two whirlwind days, we had:
10 polished videos tailored for both social media and web.
Hundreds of still photos covering every seasonal theme from holiday gifting to spring detox.
A 10-month content library that will serve WishGarden’s direct-to-consumer launch and beyond. There were a few bonus videos and scenes that we filmed that were delivered on a hard drive and color corrected so WishGarden can pull those clips to use however they’d like.
The final videos ranged from 15-second vertical reels to 60-second horizontal lifestyle edits, giving the team flexibility across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, website banners, and paid ads.
You can check out more content from this shoot by checking out Wishgarden’s website: https://www.wishgardenherbs.com
Why This Worked
There were three things that made this project successful:
Planning With Purpose
We weren’t shooting random b-roll and hoping to stitch it together later. Every scene was tied to a theme, product, or seasonal campaign. This made editing efficient and gave WishGarden a library that aligns with their marketing calendar.Styling That Felt Authentic to their Brand
Mallory’s styling was critical with layered outfits, cozy props, and authentic sets that felt true to life. It wasn’t “Pinterest perfect.” It was sometimes messy hair, well-loved mugs, and imperfect surfaces with the kind of honesty that WishGarden stands for.Community Energy
The mix of professional talent and real friends gave the shoot a lighthearted, collaborative feel. Kids ran around, guitars strummed, hammocks swayed. It never felt stiff and I think that energy shows in the final content.
Reflections
As a filmmaker, my goal isn’t just to deliver pretty footage. It’s to create emotional equity for a brand and to help their audience feel inspired to use their products. With WishGarden, the mission was clear: show how their tinctures support the moments that matter most from chaotic mornings, deep breaths, quiet nights, shared meals, and unexpected laughter.
Looking back, I’m proud of what we pulled off; two days of shooting, ten videos, hundreds of photos, a 10-month content library, and a body of work that feels authentic to both WishGarden and to me.
This was an amazing opportunity for me to help create a strong branding voice for WishGarden.
To me, that’s the best measure of success. Not only did we create tangible deliverables that will fuel WishGarden’s marketing for the year ahead, but we also built trust and camaraderie in the process. I left the set not just with hard drives full of content but with gratitude for the team, the talent, the brand, and the opportunity to tell stories that matter.
Because in the end, content is just footage. But when it’s done right, it becomes something more: a reflection of real people, real rituals, and real life.
The Crew
Director/DP/Producer/Editor: Roo Smith
Styling: Mallory Fahey
Hair and Makeup: Becky Donnelly
Photographer: Brittan Goetz
WishGarden CMO: Tracy Van Hoven
Let’s Connect
Roo is an Emmy nominated commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has directed documentaries for Patagonia in California, produced films for Outside Magazine throughout Europe and Africa, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, photographed among indigenous communities in South America, and has received notable recognition in the outdoor industry for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.