She didn’t know how to market her business. A huge reason why she didn’t know how to market is because she didn’t have a brand strategy. Her visuals also didn’t market her brand. So we needed to first create a strong brand strategy and use that strategy in her marketing. Then create strong visuals that do the rest of the marketing for her.
Marketing
She also didn’t have a website. People were only ordering from her through instagram DM’s which was lowering her credibility and trust which is very important especially with pastries. So first we needed to create her branding then reflect it on her website.
Website
The reason why her brand was fading in and not connecting with clients was because her current branding wasn’t strategized to her target audience and it was reflecting in her visuals. She also built her brand in Canva which was already very limited and made her brand look generic. We needed to create a brand that was unique and beyond what other bakeshop brands were doing and also building a deep strategy that could be reflected in her marketing strategy.
Branding
SOLUTION:
Some of the struggles that the brand was facing were connecting with clients, communicating their needs within her product and speaking their language. She wasn’t a noticeable brand, however, the products were enticing and do catch attention, they just didn’t catch sales. She was also struggling with strategizing plans to attract customers and gain sales while maintaining packaging because she didn’t have any custom packaging. She only had business cards and stickers. The branding was also fading in the background and didn’t capture attention.
CHALLENGES:
Soul Belly Bakeshop is a bakeshop brand that sells pastries with all natural ingredients. It leaves out the bad stuff like artificial ingredients and gelatin and replaces it with fruits and spices the come from plants. It incorporates a lot of ingredients that are Afro-centric.
ABOUT:
SOUL BELLY BAKESHOP
The brand sells quality pastries that are made from scratch and natural ingredients and spices from the African Diaspora
Products
The personality of the brand is predominantly feminine and soft with some powerful elements. It has a fun and luxurious personality that is nostaligic but presented in a modern way. It is also very intimate.
Personality
Soul Belly operates as a one person team, which leads to safer food handling, and the product itself is made from scratch with more care and intention which competitors may not value. She is classically trained in both savory and pastry applications and has experience in professional kitchens. Soul Belly prioritizes quality from the ingredients that go into each recipe, to how it is prepared and delivered to the customer. Soul Belly also uses less ingredients and leaves out the bad stuff such as artificial colors, gelatin, or processed ingredients and replacing it with flavors and colors naturally derived from fruits, and spices that enhance the craftsmanship and taste of each product.
USP
Where Soul Meets Pastry.
Tagline
To create quality baked goods that are made with soul and passion. Produce the delicious made from scratch pastries with high quality ingredients and intention.
Mission
The tone of voice of the brand is Uplifting & Empowering, Friendly & informative, Indulgent & Intimate. As well as welcoming almost to give a motherly or grand mother feeling.
Tone Of Voice
The message of the brand wants to convey comfort and to celebrate self care and treating yourself or others to something good because it’s well deserved. She wants the message to influence luxury and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Messaging
The values of the brand are Quality, Trust, Innovation, Passion, Community, and Self Love.
Values
The brand morals are Honesty and Integrity
Morals
The target audience of the brand are women ages 20-40 that make 60k-100k. These are hardworking driven black women that are very educated. They care about their health and are very elevated women that are not afraid to be themselves. These women like to treat themselves and are all about self care and having a good time. They value quality time with friends and family and love to travel, love working out, go outside, are adventurous and aren't afraid to try new things.
Target Audience
Kiara has always immersed herself into the culinary world as a child, taking great interest in baking and pastry while her grandmother taught her everything she knew and had a major role in nurturing and being a catalyst for her passions and business. It wasn't until college where she determined that baking was the only career path that would give purpose to her, while sharing her love for food with others. It wasn’t until the pandemic where she left her Human Resources position and took an oath to baking forever.
Brand Story
STRATEGY:
So for Soul Belly we did keep some colors used in
the industry to eliminate confusion but we also
used other colors to capture her audience’s
attention, stand out, and to represent her brand
strategy. For her logo, we incorporated a passion
fruit to represent her passion in her brand and
made the logo purple so that it stands out. We
also incorporated fonts that are synonymous with
nostalgia, heart warming, home, and matriarchal
feelings. Her icons aren’t cliche things used in the
industry. Instead, we represented her products in
her icons by creating fruits and plants with texture.
The texture represents the organic and
authenticity of her brand. We also incorporated
swirls in her brand with her branding colors to
represent smell and taste. We used a black woman
as her mascot to represent luxury and self care so
that her target audience can see themselves in the
brand.
For the colors, we did research on her competitors
and found that they were using very similar colors
like brown, creme, and pink. We also noticed that
the logos seemed very cliche or didn’t tell a deeper
story. From the icons used for the brands to the
fonts. The icons used for the branding was something
over used in the industry like baking materials and
pastries.
For the colors, we did research on her competitors
and found that they were using very similar colors
like brown, creme, and pink. We also noticed that
the logos seemed very cliche or didn’t tell a deeper
story. From the icons used for the brands to the
fonts. The icons used for the branding was something
over used in the industry like baking materials and
pastries.
So for Soul Belly we did keep some colors used in
the industry to eliminate confusion but we also
used other colors to capture her audience’s
attention, stand out, and to represent her brand
strategy. For her logo, we incorporated a passion
fruit to represent her passion in her brand and
made the logo purple so that it stands out. We
also incorporated fonts that are synonymous with
nostalgia, heart warming, home, and matriarchal
feelings. Her icons aren’t cliche things used in the
industry. Instead, we represented her products in
her icons by creating fruits and plants with texture.
The texture represents the organic and
authenticity of her brand. We also incorporated
swirls in her brand with her branding colors to
represent smell and taste. We used a black woman
as her mascot to represent luxury and self care so
that her target audience can see themselves in the
brand.
STRATEGY BEHIND THE VISUALS
AFTER
BEFORE
VISUALS:
This was possible because she understood that she had a problem and was tired of struggling on her own. She was feeling lost and ready for a change. She put herself in a position to succeed and told her fear to back off and invested in the right strategic designer. This can happen for you if you make the right strategic moves and invest in a strategic brand. You have the choice to change your current position right now
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