01 — Project details
The goal of the aesthetic rebrand was to have products and language that better reflect the diversity and background of our organization's families and staff.
02 — Creative process
I provided input for the whole project. But, for the copy I directly wrote, I focused on creating a sense of community, place, story, and continuity.
Here are some excerpts from the sections I drafted:
Aesthetic Vision
Common Good was created by community members looking to support their neighbors.
Folks from different parts of Latin America, Africa, Kentucky, and elsewhere gather weekly to study together, get homework help as needed, play soccer, share a meal, receive employment support, and build community.
Common Good families have ended up in North Lexington for a variety of reasons. Some moved to be near family, others to look for better employment opportunities, and a few of us grew up here. We all bring our unique experiences, cultures, abilities, and perspectives. The resulting Common Good community is unique, colorful, and extravagant, like an intricate patchwork quilt.
The Common Good story is the human story. We are influenced by our past, try to make our own mark in the present, and hope for a more connected and loving world in the future. We all hold two realities in tension: we are both uniquely ourselves while also reflecting our community and our history.
Makers tell the story of their backgrounds, visual identities, and influences. We hope our pieces also tell a story, the story of our unique context and perspective as well as those of our families and communities.
Marketing Plan
We have many opportunities to market our new aesthetic and explain why we are changing it to better fit with our mission and vision. Here are a few of the initial marketing steps we plan to implement:
Incentivized Email List Sign-Up: We will post on our social media about our new aesthetic and do an “exclusive premier”, which will give people the option to get a sneak peak at our new line if they sign up for our email list.
Product Drop Giveaway: Giving away some free product is always a good move to create buzz and encourage people to showcase our product on their social media.
Local Influencer Collaboration: Providing discounts to local influencers, offering free products to review, or partnering on a giveaway, will allow us to work with local influencers to spread the word about our new designs.
Growth Opportunities
We began releasing pieces featuring raw clay and hand-painted designs in very limited quantities to our B2C customers in April of 2022. Since their release, we have received lots of positive feedback from customers and have also collected solid data that shows people are purchasing the new designs.
In 2022, pieces with raw/hand-painted designs comprised 9.7% of total annual revenue. So far in 2023, that number has grown to nearly 16%. We believe we can continue growth and reach new markets (including B2B customers) as we continue to iterate and scale with our new designs. A few examples of new partners could include coffee shops, Sqecial Media, Worlds Apart, and more.
In addition to increased revenue and B2B opportunities, we believe having more raw clay showing through with hand-painted designs on our pieces will make our families feel seen/represented and increase organization-wide excitement for Matchstick.
Maintaining Existing Customers
In order to maintain our existing customer base, we need to explain why we are changing our aesthetic and the importance it holds for us and our CG families. Our current customer base cares about our mission and vision. If we can demonstrate how our new aesthetic furthers our mission/vision and gives Matchstick increased opportunities, it will solidify buy-in and existing customer retention. We are also offering our “Classic” line which will have single-dipped pieces for those customers who prefer a simpler and more neutral aesthetic.
Aesthetic Justification
We believe that creating a new and more niche aesthetic for Matchstick will provide us with expanded opportunities for living into our mission and helping our business stand out in a competitive industry.
Living into Mission
As we alluded to in our Aesthetic Vision portion near the beginning of this document, the CG family is rich in diversity, varied in experience, and unique in their individual expression. Although we are proud of the work we have done so far, we have felt for a while that our product aesthetic does not accurately reflect the vibrancy of CG. By focusing on designs that draw inspiration from traditional Mexican and African ceramics and art, we feel CG is better represented. We desire the ability to pay homage to where we (and our families) have come from while also developing our own unique voice that feels true to our individual community, time, and place.
Expanding Business Opportunities
The ceramics industry has been around for a while and has become even more competitive since the genesis of online craft sale sites like Etsy in the last 10 years. In an increasingly saturated industry, businesses that create more focused and story-driven ceramic pieces are gaining traction. Matchstick Goods stands out in several ways, but one of our strongest selling points is our non-profit status and the uniqueness of our mission. We believe our new aesthetic direction will allow us to better leverage our non-profit status, youth-oriented mission, and industry trends to sell more products and increase buy-in as follows:
Products will more effectively stand out in a crowd and draw people’s eyes, whether that be physically at an in-person sale or online as people are scrolling through products on their social feed.
Products will inspire people’s curiosity about our aesthetic choices, which gives us a more seamless opportunity to tell our story and therefore leverage our biggest competitive advantage.
Products will open up opportunities to exhibit/sell at more prestigious events. Higher-end shows and markets prioritize niche and unique pieces when jurying entries. Our new designs are more likely to be accepted into those events.
Matchstick staff are really excited about the new aesthetic direction. We see ourselves, our artistic choices, and our families in the pieces. We believe in the importance and impact of the direction we are heading and feel that new and potentially less-tapped groups of customers will share our enthusiasm and purchase our products.