Locations: MA, RI, MD
Industry: Lifestyle/fashion
Website: aoeyewear.com
Project Scope:
Brand Strategy
Corporate Identity
Website
Social Media
Video & Photo Production
Content
Visual Design
Public Relations
challenge
For nearly 15 years, competitors have stolen the thunder of AO®Eyewear and increased their own notoriety by claiming accolades which should have been hallmarks for this historic brand. This resulted in a dilution of the brand’s perceived equity and a decrease in sales.
solution
We embarked on a brand refresh beginning with an evolution of the brand’s logo. AO® Eyewear’s logo is iconic within the optical industry so there was a need to be thoughtful with the design in order to not alienate the existing core audience. To
reflect the brand’s rise and “rebirth”, the red “O” was elevated.
Our next priority was to revitalize the brand’s lagging social media channels. This required that new content such as product shots be captured. Beyond product shots, we also needed to create a repository of lifestyle photography and video thus a series of photoshoots was put into production.
Based on the persona research conducted and the history of the brand, we decided to blend the old with the new by conducting several vintage-inspired photoshoots. This included assembling vintage wardrobes, scouting iconic locations and sourcing hard to find props.
While we leveraged Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Reddit, our primary digital strategy called for Instagram to play a leading role. We developed a content calendar that incorporated personalized paid and organic assets intended to disrupt the online community and call attention to AO® Eyewear’s legacy using the hashtag #TrueOriginal.
results
Between October 21st, 2018 and October 25th, 2018, AO® Eyewear’s Instagram following increased a staggering 1,823%, climbing from an initial 1,300 followers to nearly 25,000 within four days.
The email campaign leveraging AO®’s current email list resulted in an amazing 32.4% open rate average with a 6.9% click-thru rate to the website (compared to industry benchmarks of 8.7% and 1.1% respectively).
The combined rebrand, social media push, and email marketing campaign not only significantly increased brand awareness, audience size, and average engagement, but also resulted in a 275% increase in revenue, month-to-month, year-over-year comparison for November 2018. It is important to note that in the month of November, zero advertising dollars were spent.
