We’re on continual brand watch here at CLS with us signed up to 100’s or brands newsletters easy. So as you might imagine, we see some awesome, well done and sometimes quite crap marketing campaigns and strategies that are put out into the ether. One thing we’ve noticed though too is that there are a re number of brands that continue to consistently slay, so we’re here to tell you about them and encourage you to follow them, so you can see what we see.
Let’s start off with one you might all know, Frank Body. Around 2015, Frank Body was created. The idea came from Steve Rowley, one of the co-founders, during his time working as a barista. People would come into the café and ask for the old coffee grounds. Seeing a gap in the market for natural coffee ground body scrubs, Steve thought this would be a perfect business opportunity. Given the fact the business began with $5k and is now worth $20 million, I’d say Steve was right. Almost immediately the brand stood out from its competitors due to the clear voice of ‘Frank’ that was evident in their copy. Using the word “Babe” is a big personality identifier for the brand, using language that is inclusive and friendly helps to give the customer the feeling that they are dealing with a real person. An example of this is when customers receive any kind of email from the brand there is a playful message from Frank inside rather than just the usual jargon. The brand also uses email marketing but the content is interesting, features HD images and never feels like spam.
Each package once it arrives comes with a note saying “We’d love to know what you think. We want you to share your feedback, using the hashtag #frankeffect”. Not only does this make the customer feel as if they are part of a community and a valued customer but it also means they will hopefully provide the brand with something super valuable – User Generated Content. User Generated Content or UGC is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase your online marketing. Frank Body has been taking advantage of UGC since their inception. They also take advantage of influencer marketing and send big names online their products to be showed off on their feeds. UGC also allows customers to see real people (who aren’t being paid) showing off their Frank Body products and loving them. This provides a trusted brand image for potential new customers. For Frank Body, the strong voice in their copy and their UGC strategies have been the most helpful on their rise to success.
Our next brand is The Go-To. Similarly to Frank Body, The Go-To also has clever, engaging copy that has both a distinct voice as well as a consistent message. The customer experience is elevated due to the cheeky emails a customer receives once subscribed or anytime an order is placed. The Go-To founder, Zoë Foster Blake, believes that the key to successful marketing is knowing your customers super well. In doing so you are able to identify what customers believe already, what they are needing to believe in order to purchase from your brand and finally what questions they have that might need to be answered. The Go-To then takes this info and uses their marketing to address them. The brand also uses educational info and testimonials from existing customers to help new customers understand their skincare range better, they also keep the range uncomplicated to encourage new customers to purchase. The brands limited colour palette and simple designs also assist in presenting a strong brand image. Their combined use of a consistent voice and consistent packaging is what keeps people coming back.
Moving on, our next brand is Bed Threads. For Bed Threads, content is king. Their strongest marketing tool is social media. Genevieve Rosen began the brand in 2017 with her husband and had almost immediate success upon doing so. Genevieve identified a gap in the market for 100% Linen sheets/ bedding sets when she herself was looking for bedding to purchase. From there, the team started to build a solid base of customers on their social media platforms and database. Thus, once their product was ready to go, they sold out completely. Their ability to balance sales messaging and what customers are actually interested in is a great tool that they use very well. Genevieve believes that spending money on an excellent photographer has helped to create the vision and lifestyle of a Bed Threads user. An important part of their marketing is creating this idealised model for customers to want to attain. In order to make sure their vision is aligned with what customers actually want, the brand is constantly making changes according to the feedback and responses from their customers. The team uses Instagram as a way to gather direct feedback and communicate with their customers. For Bed Threads, their strong social media presence, ability to create an ideal lifestyle image and their understanding of their product is what makes them strong players in the marketing game.
Twoobs is the next brand that had a strong customer base before ever dropping a product. Jess and Stef Dadon launched their fashion careers online with their blog “How to Live”. On said blog the sisters would share their love for fashion, specifically platform shoes. However, it wasn’t due to these posts that the pair skyrocketed to success. The duo had the bright idea to pay models at NYC fashion week just $500 to wear nothing but a pair of Twoobs and a bikini… in -4 degree weather. This marketing stunt got people talking about the brand, and this would be a pivotal moment for the sisters and their careers. Following this, Jess and Stef collaborated with Gorman and produced a footwear range which sold out in just 3 hours! It was after this that the pair decided that small product drops were the way to go, when starting their brand, hype was key. Once Stef and Jess had established their brand, they tried their hand at using influencer marketing as their main way to boost sales. However, they found this didn’t work as well as they would’ve hoped. Thus, they changed their tact and started to focus on digital marketing instead. This is when they began to see a better sales uptake. By creating hype around their first few footwear drops and not being afraid to change their approach, the sisters have sustained their popularity and their marketing is stronger than ever.
Finally, us here at Creative Little Soul are the strongest in the game and kill it every time with our marketing (and no I’m not just biased ?). When it comes to our eflyers, not only do we pop all the most important info in an easy-to-understand format, but our team of copywriters create engaging and playful copy. We aim to have strong databases for our eflyers as the more eyes that actually see our emails, the better! Our ability to adjust our tone and wording depending on which client we are making content for is very important. It keeps each of our clients’ brands/businesses feeling individual and keeps our involvement a little more behind the scenes. We are in constant communication with our clients as well as our clients’ customers via social media, meaning we have a better understanding of everyone’s needs and wants. Our heavy social media presence means we are always aiming to produce content and drive sales/ attendance for venues. Social media is a huge asset when it comes to marketing so if you’re looking for somewhere to start, jump on and get it going!
References:
https://viral-loops.com/blog/ecommerce-case-study-frank-body/
https://www.bakercreative.com.au/post/brands-we-love-go-to-skincare
https://www.ragtrader.com.au/news/twoobs-how-a-500-gamble-turned-into-a-1-million-business