MANE RHODES, A SOAP AND WELLNESS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
The owner of Mane Rhodes intuited that her brand needed a professional refresh, yet she also knew that updating her brand required more than a new logo. Aside from the inconsistencies of her brand identity, she needed help articulating what her brand stood for and where it was going.
After an initial brand assessment and subsequent discussions, we agreed to move forward on the development of a brand strategy, a new brand identity, and a website refresh to include e-commerce functionality.
After many discussions about the brand, the client was able to gain clarity around her organization’s purpose and direction. While the company created and sold soap and beauty products, the owner's true purpose revolved around addressing the effects of mental health issues in her community. The soap and beauty products would power the real work of her advocacy. Soap-making was an activity that sustained the client's own struggles with mental health and provided a powerful narrative linking the two elements. From these discussions we were able to craft out an aligned brand strategy and key guiding principles that would serve her brand into the future.
In developing a brand identity for Mane Rhodes, I began by considering the client’s own transformative journey that served as the impetus for her company’s founding. I also researched her target customers and the historical and cultural factors that informed her advocacy.
Importantly, I had to ensure that the brand's application would remain consistent across all the company’s touchpoints. Working with the client’s values and brand voice, I developed communications and social media guidelines to instruct how she and her employees would speak about the brand and engage with their customers.
Since her brand transformation, the client's orders have skyrocketed. She has also been awarded several rounds of fundraising support and is in negotiation to become a regular supplier for a large organization and national distribution. The clarity of her brand and the anchor provided by the guidelines have given her confidence as she grows her company and advocacy.
