Ethical Marketing

Policy Overview

Blooming Haus believes that doing beautiful work and doing the right thing are the same thing. This page sets out how we show up – in our marketing, our communications, our supply chain relationships, and our industry – in a way that is honest, inclusive, and accountable.

These principles apply to everyone who creates or publishes content on behalf of Blooming Haus, including freelancers, photographers, copywriters, and agency partners. Ultimate accountability for this policy rests with the founders of Blooming Haus. The policy is reviewed annually.

This policy was developed with input from the Blooming Haus team. We welcome feedback from clients, suppliers, and the wider community at any time via www.bloominghaus.com/contact. Input received is considered in our annual review. Last reviewed: April 2026. Next review: April 2027. Next major revision review: March 2029.

B Corp Compliance Scope

This policy satisfies the following B Corp V2.1 compliance criteria:

PSG 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 (Responsible Marketing and Communications): documented principles governing environmental and social claims, with truthful and accountable communication of positive and negative impacts, ethical guidelines for sensitive marketing channels, and processes for communicating the policy to workers
JEDI 2.p.1 and 2.p.2 (Communications and Ethical Content Guide): language conventions, ethical content gathering, social identity representation, and AI use protocols, shared with all workers producing external communications

Language Scope

Blooming Haus produces external communications in English. Where any content is produced in another language for specific clients or partnerships, the principles in this policy apply equally, and the Inclusive Language Guide below should be supplemented by equivalent guidance in the relevant language before publication. Translation of this policy itself will be undertaken on request and resourced where any communication language other than English becomes a regular requirement.

Honest & Transparent Marketing

Blooming Haus does not use untruthful or deceptive representation in its campaigns, partnerships, or communications.

We do not engage in:

False advertising – incorrect product or service details, including features, benefits, or limitations.
Clickbait – misleading copy or imagery used to grab attention through fear or distress.
Fake or doctored reviews, testimonials, or social proof.
Incentivised positive reviews.
Distorted metrics or selectively excluded data to misrepresent our impact or performance.
Misleading competitor comparisons.
Complicated or obscured pricing.

Where Blooming Haus engages in paid partner content or affiliate arrangements, all such content is clearly labelled and disclosed in line with ASA and CMA guidance.

When referencing our B Corp certification in marketing or communications, we use language and assets approved by B Lab. We do not imply that B Corp certification covers areas of impact it does not assess, and we do not use the B Corp mark to offset weaknesses in areas where we know we have further to go.

Before any campaign goes live, our team asks:

Does this accurately describe our product or service without misleading anyone?
Is the language precise and honest about what Blooming Haus offers?
Have customers, partners, and employees been quoted accurately?
Is any data used honest and complete – has anything been excluded that shouldn’t be?
Is there any internal pressure to misrepresent the company? If so, this must be raised immediately with the founders, or via the formal grievance process described in the Policy Governance & Review section below.

Our marketing practices comply with UK advertising regulation, including the CAP Code enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority and consumer protection law enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority, including the CMA’s Green Claims Code.

Environmental Claims & Impact Reporting

Blooming Haus is committed to honest environmental communication – which means reporting both our progress and our shortcomings.

We will not:

Make environmental claims that are not backed by evidence.
Cherry-pick data or highlight only the stories that reflect well on us.
Promote partnerships or initiatives as impactful without being able to demonstrate that impact.
Make unrealistic promises or commitments we cannot keep.

We will:

Disclose negative environmental impacts alongside positive ones. We are currently mapping our full Scope 3 emissions, including supply chain and logistics. Until that picture is complete, we commit to being honest about what we don’t yet know, and to not making environmental claims we can’t substantiate. The carbon footprint of flower sourcing is more complex than a simple local vs. imported calculation; our approach is to follow the evidence, source responsibly, and share our findings as they develop.
Ensure all sustainability claims are specific, verifiable, and kept up to date.
Align our environmental communications with our published Climate Action Plan.
We recognise that honesty about our negative impacts is not a weakness. It is what makes our positive claims credible.
Maintain a substantiation file for all public environmental and social claims. Claims are reviewed and signed off by the Operations & Sustainability Director and team before publication and re-verified at least annually. Where claims rely on third-party data, we cite the source.
Align our sustainability communications with the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive from September 2026 onwards, including avoiding generic terms such as ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘sustainable’ where they are not substantiated.

Human Rights

Blooming Haus is committed to respecting human rights across our operations, our supply chain, and our relationships with clients, partners, and communities.

We formally commit to the following frameworks:

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

These are not aspirational references. They inform how we make sourcing decisions, choose suppliers, and hold ourselves and our partners to account.

Supply chain

A meaningful human rights commitment has to extend beyond our own studio. A significant proportion of the flowers originate from countries with a well-documented floriculture industry that, when properly certified and sourced, provides stable employment and income for farming communities, but one that also carries real risks around labour conditions, wages, and worker welfare when sourcing is done carelessly. We recognise that certification is a floor, not a ceiling.

As part of our human rights due diligence, we review our most material procurement relationships on a rolling basis, focusing on labour conditions, wages, and worker welfare. Findings inform our sourcing decisions and, where appropriate, are shared publicly.

Inclusive Communications & Representation

Blooming Haus is committed to communications that are inclusive, respectful, and genuinely representative of the world we serve.

Language & framing

Accessibility is a baseline, not a feature. We work to make our communications more accessible over time. Today, this includes captions on our video content for viewers with hearing impairments. We recognise we have further to go, particularly on visual, cognitive, and mobility accessibility, and we treat improving this as an ongoing commitment. We use language that is clear, respectful, and free from stereotype. We do not use terminology that is exclusionary, reductive, or outdated in relation to any social identity, including but not limited to race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion, age, or socioeconomic background. When language norms evolve, we update our practice accordingly.

Visual & written representation

Blooming Haus actively works to ensure that the people represented in our photography, videography, written content, and case studies reflect the diversity of our clients, communities, and workforce. Before featuring individuals from underrepresented groups, we check that their representation is consistent across the full campaign rather than isolated, that they have been paid equitably for their contribution, and that they have approved the final content.

Ethical content gathering

When we feature real people – clients, suppliers, community members, or collaborators – we obtain informed consent, explain how their content will be used, and give them the opportunity to review it before publication. We do not extract stories from communities without their meaningful involvement.

What we do not do:

Appropriate, stereotype, exploit, or underrepresent any person or group.
Partner with people without lived experience of the topics raised in our campaigns.
Promote products or services to people in circumstances that may impair their capacity to make informed choices, including minors, individuals in acute distress or bereavement, those with addiction or mental health challenges, and those experiencing financial hardship. We apply particular care in contexts such as funerals, weddings, and moments of grief.
Engage on political or electoral matters outside our purpose. Where we speak publicly on issues material to our work, such as sustainable sourcing, supply chain ethics, floriculture labour standards, or environmental policy, we do so openly and in our own name.
Engage in the ‘saviour complex’ – portraying a community as in need of rescue rather than as empowered participants.

AI in Creative Content

Blooming Haus uses AI tools to support, not replace, human creative judgement. We are committed to using these tools ethically and transparently.

Our approach:

All AI-generated or AI-assisted content, including copy, imagery, and design, is reviewed and approved by the Brand & Impact Lead, or by a director where the Brand and Impact Lead is unavailable, before publication. It is never published automatically or without editorial oversight, and the name of the reviewer is recorded for internal accountability.
We do not publish AI-generated content that presents itself as human-authored without disclosure.
We actively review AI-generated outputs for bias, stereotyping, and misrepresentation before use. AI tools can replicate and amplify the biases present in their training data; we treat this as a genuine risk, not a hypothetical one.
We do not use AI to generate fake testimonials, reviews, or social proof of any kind.
Our use of AI tools is guided by the same ethical principles that govern all our communications: honesty, accuracy, and respect for the people our content depicts or reaches.
We review and update our AI approach regularly as the technology and the industry’s understanding of best practice evolve.
We maintain an internal record of which AI tools Blooming Haus uses in content production, the purposes for which each is used, and the date the tool was added or removed from approved use. This record is reviewed by the directors annually as part of this policy’s review cycle.

Inclusive Language Guide

This guide sets out specific terminology choices that apply to Blooming Haus’s external communications. It complements the principles in the Inclusive Communications & Representation section above by giving practical, language-level guidance to everyone who writes copy, captions, blog posts, social media, marketing materials, or any other external content on behalf of Blooming Haus.

The guidance below applies to all English-language external communications. Where alternative terminology is preferred by the individuals or communities being written about, their preference takes precedence. This guide is a baseline, not a ceiling.

The guide is reviewed annually as part of this policy’s review cycle, with input from the Blooming Haus team. We commit to refining it with external review from relevant social identity groups by the end of Year 1.

Gender and pronouns

Use “they / them” as the default singular pronoun where gender is unknown or not relevant. Do not default to “he” or “she.”
When referring to couples, including in wedding or partnership contexts, use “couple” or “partners” rather than “bride and groom” unless the individuals themselves have used those terms.
Avoid “feminine” and “masculine” as descriptors of floral design, colour palette, or aesthetic choice. Describe the actual qualities (soft, structural, bold, restrained, romantic) instead.
Avoid gendered job descriptors. Use “workforce” not “manpower,” “synthetic” not “manmade,” “people-hours” not “man-hours,” “chair” or “chairperson” not “chairman.”
Where a person uses pronouns other than he or she (such as they/them, or others), use them consistently in any content where they appear.

Race, ethnicity, and culture

Refer to people and communities using the terminology they use to describe themselves.
Do not use “exotic” as a descriptor for plants, flowers, or design references from outside Europe and North America. Use the specific origin (for example, “Japanese ikebana tradition,” “South American foliage,” “tropical species from Costa Rica”) instead.
Do not use “ethnic” as a marketing modifier (“ethnic style,” “ethnic pattern”). It treats non-Western reference points as a generic category. Name the specific tradition or origin.
Avoid “tribal” and “primitive” in any creative or design context. These terms carry colonial weight and are routinely used to flatten distinct traditions into a single Other.
When referencing cultural or religious occasions (Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year, Hanukkah, Easter, Christmas), name them specifically and accurately. Do not collapse them into “holiday” or “festive” except where the content genuinely addresses a generic seasonal moment.
Capitalise Black and other terms denoting ethnic or racial identity consistently with current standard practice in UK and US journalism.

Disability

The convention on person-first (“person with autism”) versus identity-first (“autistic person”) language varies by community. As a baseline, use identity-first language for autism and Deaf community contexts, and person-first language elsewhere, unless the individual being written about has expressed a preference. Where in doubt, ask.
Avoid ableist language as metaphor. Do not use “blind to,” “tone-deaf,” “lame,” “crazy,” “insane,” “OCD” (as casual hyperbole), “schizophrenic” (as a metaphor for inconsistency), or “crippled” outside their precise medical meanings.
Avoid “wheelchair-bound” or “confined to a wheelchair.” Use “wheelchair user.”
Do not use “suffers from” in relation to a disability or chronic condition unless the person being written about has used that phrasing themselves.
“Neurodivergent” and “neurodiverse” are not interchangeable. A person is neurodivergent; a group or team can be neurodiverse.

Sexuality

Do not default to heterosexual coupling in any content involving relationships, weddings, or family contexts. Use “couple,” “partner,” or “spouse” rather than gendered alternatives unless the individual has used the gendered term themselves.
Use “LGBTQ+” or “LGBTQIA+” rather than older terms.
Do not use “preference” in relation to sexual orientation. Use “orientation” or “identity.”
Avoid “openly gay” or “openly LGBTQ” as descriptors in editorial content. The person is gay or LGBTQ; the openness is a separate matter and naming it as remarkable can be othering.

Religion

Use specific terms for religious traditions and practices (“Hindu,” “Jewish,” “Muslim,” “Sikh,” “Christian,” “Buddhist,” “secular”).
Avoid framing any religion as exotic, mystical, or foreign relative to a Christian default.
When describing religious or cultural floral traditions (mandap florals, chuppah florals, altar arrangements, funeral wreaths), use the correct names and avoid generic substitutes.

Age

Do not use “elderly” as a marketing descriptor. Use “older adults,” “older people,” or the specific age range if relevant.
Avoid “young people” as a default for anyone under 35. Describe actual circumstances or roles where age is genuinely relevant.
Do not describe team members or freelancers by their age unless they have explicitly given consent and there is a clear editorial purpose.

Class and socio-economic background

Blooming Haus serves luxury clients. The word “exclusive” is appropriate when describing genuinely limited or private services. It is not appropriate as a default modifier in general communications.
Avoid framing luxury as the absence of constraint, the absence of work, or the absence of other people. Luxury is a particular kind of care, craft, and presence; that is the language we use.
Do not use “common” or “popular” pejoratively to mark distance from luxury contexts.
Be alert to references that assume specific cultural fluency (private schooling, second homes, particular sports or pastimes) being read as universal. They are not.

Floriculture and supply chain

Refer to growers and farm workers by their actual roles and origins, not as a generic “the growers” or “the source.”
Do not use language that romanticises agricultural labour as quaint or simple.
When referring to flowers and foliage from specific countries, use the country name correctly and accurately. Avoid colonial-era place names.

Permission-Based Email Marketing

Blooming Haus handles its email marketing data diligently and respectfully.

Email subscribers are added to our list only with their explicit consent and can unsubscribe easily at any time.
We do not sell or share subscriber data for commercial re-use.
Our email content adds genuine value – editorial content, inspiration, and information relevant to the original opt-in intent. We do not spam.
Our email practices comply with UK GDPR and PECR. Details of our lawful basis, retention periods, and your rights as a data subject are set out in our Privacy Policy at bloominghaus.com/privacy. We treat data protection as a baseline, not a ceiling.

Ethical Digital Advertising

Digital advertising raises real ethical questions around data privacy and consumer targeting. Blooming Haus and its digital marketing partners are committed to staying current with regulatory changes and holding our practices to the highest lawful and ethical standard.

Our commitments:

Compliance with all applicable privacy laws and regulations.
No use of consumers’ personal information without consent.
Consumer data is protected from unauthorised access and will never be sold for commercial re-use.
All paid partnerships and advertorial content are clearly disclosed – audiences will always know when content is sponsored.
No pop-up or pop-under advertising that creates new windows or tabs without user intent.
Accessibility considerations are built into digital advertising design.
Timely and respectful support for customers who contact us through advertising channels.
Regular review of our advertising platforms and partners to ensure their practices align with this policy. Where a platform’s behaviour falls below our standards, we will raise it, change practice, or withdraw.

Ethical SEO

Blooming Haus manages its online presence honestly and in the long-term interest of its users.

We focus on:

An optimal website experience – easy to navigate, valuable to use, and fast to load.
Content that earns links organically through genuine quality and relevance.
Ethical redirects that help users find what they are looking for.
Functional 404 pages with clear onward navigation.

We do not engage in:

Automated link building or link purchasing.
Deceptive link insertion – hiding links from users so only search engines can see them.
Keyword stuffing or over-optimisation.
Stolen or plagiarised content.
Unethical redirects or deceptive pop-ups.

Our use of AI content creation, including for SEO purposes, is governed by the principles set out in the AI in Creative Content section above.

Lobbying & Political Activity

Blooming Haus does not engage in lobbying activity or make political donations. We do not use third parties to lobby on our behalf.

Where we advocate publicly on industry or sustainability issues, for example through trade bodies, public consultation responses, or editorial commentary, we do so transparently, in our own name, and in a manner consistent with our values. Our current trade body and industry membership is the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI). We review our memberships annually to ensure their advocacy is aligned with our stated positions, and we will withdraw where it is not.

We do not make in-kind contributions of goods, services, staff time, or use of our premises to political parties, candidates, or campaigns.

Policy Governance & Review

This policy is owned by the founders of Blooming Haus. It is reviewed at least annually, and all updates require founder sign-off before publication.

All employees are briefed on this policy during onboarding and at each annual review. Freelancers, photographers, copywriters, and agency partners receive a copy of this policy as part of their contracting process, and acknowledgement of it is a condition of working with us.

How this policy is communicated and enforced: Communication takes place through onboarding briefing of all employees, a copy of the policy provided to freelancers and agency partners with acknowledgement as a condition of engagement, the annual review covered above, and ongoing internal guidance from the Brand and Impact Lead. Compliance is enforced through pre-campaign review questions (see Honest & Transparent Marketing), the substantiation file maintained for all environmental and social claims (see Environmental Claims & Impact Reporting), named-reviewer accountability for AI-assisted content (see AI in Creative Content), and the grievance process at bloominghaus.com/grievance (see also the BH Grievance Page Copy and BH Grievance Management Procedure).

Any team member, freelancer, partner, or member of the public who believes this policy has been breached is encouraged to raise it immediately with the founders, or anonymously via the grievance process at bloominghaus.com/grievance.

Submissions receive acknowledgement within 5 working days and a substantive response within 20 working days. Investigations are conducted by a founder not named in the concern, or by an independent reviewer where a founder is the subject. Outcomes and remediation steps are documented and, where appropriate, shared with the person who raised the concern.

Retaliation against anyone raising a concern in good faith will not be tolerated and will itself be treated as a policy breach.

Feedback & Questions

We welcome questions, challenges, and feedback on how we’re living up to these commitments – including where you think we’re falling short.

For general enquiries, feedback on our marketing or communications, or to request information about personal data we hold, please contact us via bloominghaus.com/contact.

To submit a formal concern or grievance – including a potential breach of this policy – please use our dedicated grievance process at bloominghaus.com/grievance. This page explains how submissions are reviewed, the expected response timeframe, and the protections in place for anyone raising a concern. Retaliation against anyone raising a concern in good faith will not be tolerated.

Governance & Approval Sign-off:

This Ethical Marketing Policy has been reviewed and approved by the highest governing body of Blooming Haus. The policy is reviewed annually and updated at least every 36 months in accordance with B Corp requirements. The company remains committed to continuous improvement, transparency, and accountability in its ethical marketing journey.

Next annual review: April 2027.

Next major revision review: March 2029 or earlier if operations materially change.