The power of joining forces can never be underestimated, but it does need to be done with careful consideration, as it is important that the collaboration is a natural fit and should drive your businesses forward. It might simply amplify your voice on social media, or it might be more production and sales focussed.
The power of collaboration is not always about numbers, it can also be about community. A good example of the power of collaboration is the Hettie and LK Bennett partnership. These brands both had common elements to their stories, so collaborating was a good fit and amplified both.
Part of the difficulty in identifying the correct creative brand strategy for your business is that there are so many platforms, and there is the sense that we should all be on all of them. Social media has taken on a life of its own to the point of being overwhelming. The best advice I have had when looking at a marketing strategy was from my friend and colleague Lizette Watts at Nomads & Co who advises to keep things simple.
For Lizette, marketing and plotting your brand strategies should be a pleasure not a chore, so simply choose the platform you like, the one you enjoy scrolling though with your morning coffee, the one that gives you pleasure rather than performance anxiety! (What a relief…no more agonising about the fact that Tik-Tok leaves me cold!) Find your medium and do it well, that way your voice will resonate, and you will in turn find a community. Because that is essentially what social media is all about for a creative business, it is about finding your tribe and building your brand, it is about positivity and community.
One creative company that has succeeded in community building is the online paint company Lick who have essentially used lockdown and the resultant social shifts, to take the business onto a whole new level.
“In the short time since its launch, Lick has completely shaken up this sector, by re-thinking every step of the customer journey from inspiration to decoration, for the modern digital-native consumer and professional decorator”, says OMERS Ventures Managing Partner, Harry Briggs.
So, what did Lick do in practical terms that smaller creative businesses can takeaway…
The most important thing they have done is build a community. They have created a growing community of decorators (185,200 strong), an inclusive community from first-time home decorators to grand-designers and influencers, everyone has a voice on the Lick pages and that has become the driving the force within the brand.
“Already we’ve helped make over 30,000 houses feel like home, listened to our decorators and launched new categories and product extensions, built a superb 38-person strong team bringing in expertise from FarFetch and Charlotte Tilbury, and planted enough trees to cover over 72 football pitches and removed the equivalent of 122,504 plastic bottles from the ocean. In short, our curated offering and unique approach to content are bringing a fresh look to decorating.”