meet the team

DEBBIE FELDMAN MICHELLE LIJESSIE WOLFE ELIZABETH DICKERSON REILLY MEGEEAccount Executive StrategistAssistant Account Executive Copy Writer Art Director

table of contentstable of contentsBrand IntroductionTarget AudienceSWOT AnalysisCreative Brief

Problem + SummaryCampaign DirectionCommunication GoalsTactics

Creative ExecutionsMeasuring SuccessFuture Recommendations

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brand + audienceBRAND INTRODUCTIONElijana Cosmetics is brought to you by an Australian mother-daughter duo that was tired of being separated by timezones and a 20 hour plane ride. The two reunited here in Athens, Georgia where they opened a store rooted in what they were both passionate about: helping women find their true beauty. Their slogan, “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful,” defined the heart of the company, and the store warmly opened their doors to Broad Street and all of Athens.

Elijana Cosmetics is focused on bringing luxury, custom-designed foundation to help women compliment, not hide, their true beauty. Elijana Cosmetics is the one of a kind, being the only free standing cosmetic company and makeup studio in Athens. They offer a superior product and years of industry experience in their downtown storefront.

Jana Vlaciky and her “mum,” Anne Zoe Heiss, care about each and every one of the their customers. Their dream is for Elijana to become an Athens makeup destination where brides can relax on their big day and students can get pampered for some of the best nights of their lives. Whether for prom, graduation or wedding day, young or old, Elijana Cosmetics wants to help you embrace your beauty today and always.

TARGET AUDIENCEPRIMARYUGA Students with emphasis on Sorority GirlsApproximately 24% of undergraduate females are involved in Greek Life at the University of Georgia. Although this number seems small compared to the whole, sorority members typically have larger amounts of disposable income indicated by their membership in an expensive extracurricular. In addition, sorority members have social events multiple times a year where they may need event makeup services or a new location for sisterhood events. By targeting this large niche society, Elijana will be able to deliver more effective messaging and offer a service to meet the audience’s specific needs.

SECONDARYAthens BridesAthens is a popular wedding destination. Couples who met during their time at UGA, or just proud bulldogs come to Athens for the beautiful on and off campus venues. Elijana offers brides multiple opportunities to connect with the brand through bridal parties, lipstick parties, or day-of makeup services. Elijana provides brides professional, quality services and as the only freestanding makeup venue in Athens, Elijana is an obvious choice for brides looking to make their big day perfect.

swot analysisSTRENGTHS• Unique, custom product• Mobile services• Skilled makeup artists• Strong & loyal bridal-base, positive reviews• Only business of its kind in Athens• Attractive store

- Suitable for large events• Ability to create makeup quickly

- Requires little wait or turnover time• Open to collaboration with other businesses

WEAKNESSES• Narrow profit margin• Low brand recognition• Lack of a cohesive look• Low knowledge of desired market• Limited budget• Limited time to spend on marketing efforts• Poor knowledge of effective social media use

OPPORTUNITIES• Large, untapped sorority market• Local partnerships• Prime location• Beauty customers are loyal customers• Extensive POS system that allows direct targeting

of any customer that has been in the store• Athens is a popular wedding destination• Brand ambassadors can spread awareness of

company

THREATS• Competition - freelance makeup artists, makeup

artists at salons, makeup counter at the mall• Location not central to downtown Athens

- Low foot traffic• Low disposable income by college students• Older consumers already have go-to makeup

brands

creative briefcreative briefKEY FACTS• Offers custom designed foundations and lipsticks.• The only makeup store located in downtown Athens.

PROBLEMThere is a lack of awareness about the company, and the owners have little knowledge about their desired target market: students

OBJECTIVES• Develop consistent and eye-catching branding to make promotions

more recognizable, including streamlining social media• Tap into the UGA sorority market to bring in foot-traffic and appeal to

the girls through group events and special occasion makeup

TARGET AUDIENCEAthens Female Students(18-22 years old) These girls constantly have places to be and a need to look nice. They have a small amount of disposable income from their parents and often invest it in apearance and social events.

INSIGHTS• In-store shopping is the preferred method of purchase.• Other beauty retailers market in a variety of ways: print ads, email,

television, commercials and other initiatives in store and online.• Elevated customer service brings customers back. This can be done

in store and virtually. Personalized experiences are key.• Brides search for makeup artists primarily in blogs, magazines, and

social media.

PROMISESTo expand awareness into her desired target market and improve her communications and advertising efforts as a whole.

SUPPORTWe will have little monetary support for our efforts. Most of the work we will produce will have to be promotional efforts supported by our team.

TONE AND MANNER• The tone for Elijana’s branding and promotional materials will be fun

with a hint of sarcasm or humorous undertones.• Facebook: Maintain a mostly fun attitude, keeping humor to a

minimum since Jana’s older clientele will likely be on this site.• Instagram: The pictures should speak louder than the words, minimizing

total character counts.• Email Marketing: The most professional sounding method of

communication. Messages will be fun and appeal to the reader because we want them to click and scroll through the entire email.

MANDATORIES• Elijana logo (white or black), website, phone number, address• Non-wedding material: red, black, white, black and white photos• Wedding material: white, dusty purple

MEDIA/COMMUNICATION VEHICLESThe main communication vehicles for our campaign will be social media, in-store or print advertising, email marketing, in-person sorority communication, and a website redesign.

strategystrategy

problem + summaryproblem + summaryPROBLEMElijana Cosmetics has difficulty reaching the college student market. It has a decent presence in the weddings market but it struggles to connect with UGA students, despite its premiere location in downtown Athens. Because Jana is in charge of the business and also is usually the only employee working, she has a lot of tasks to devote her time to. This means that her social media, website, promotional material and overall brand do not always receive the attention they need. Improving this content and reaching the college student market is the biggest problem that Jana suffers and is why she turned to our Talking Dog team.

SUMMARY Although Jana is very devoted to her business, she was highly receptive to our ideas and allowed us to introduce changes to Elijana Cosmetics. We streamlined her branding in a sleek red, black and white color scheme. We improved her use of social media, especially Instagram, by setting forth guidelines and increasing followers by over 300. We created a clean website layout that simplified her website and made it more appealing and competitive. Our team designed business cards, fliers, handouts and emails that complied with our new brand and kept Elijana Cosmetics relevant and inviting. After establishing this “new” Elijana Cosmetics, we reached out to the college market through sorority visits and deals, and introduced a Brand Ambassador program to reach young women not involved in the Greek system. We continued to reach out to the bride market and maintain relationships with current clients through emails and events. Throughout our process, our team maintained Elijana Cosmetic’s message of “Be your own kind of beautiful” which is the foundation of Jana’s entire business.

goals + directionCOMMUNICATION GOALSTo resonate with our target audiences and to sway them to make purchases.

Before our involvement, Elijana Cosmetics was not a well-known brand. Hardly any college students knew it existed, even though it is in a very accessible location downtown. Jana’s main source of revenue was through local weddings and spontaneous walkers-by, predominately older women. The college market was largely untapped. We hoped to reach that college market and unlock new business by communicating with them in relevant ways, while continuing to maintain communication with the already existing market. We wanted to increase business and general knowledge of Elijana Cosmetics and its services. Our goal was to transform Elijana Cosmetics into a polished brand that would appeal to customers and become the premiere cosmetics location for Athens residents by increasing communication. The brand and communication tactics would change, but the message of “be your own kind of beautiful” would remain the same.

CAMPAIGN DIRECTIONElijana’s slogan “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful” inspired our team to create a campaign centered around embracing inner and outer beauty. As a cosmetic company, we didn’t want to alienate our target markets by sending out the wrong messaging. Whether customers come in for a girls night out, a date night in, or coveted time with a mom or sister, our products and services are there to enhance those memories, not cover them up. Since our primary audience, sorority girls, and our secondary audience, brides, are both likely to be millennials, we wanted to use the channels most relevant to them. This includes digital and social platforms as well as strategic messaging that speaks to their wants and needs.

goals + direction

tacticsSOCIAL MEDIA• Focused on Instagram as a way to reach the college market.• Researched hashtags that were highly searched and used them on our posts.• Created social media guidelines, a what-to-post set of criteria, that would help Jana appeal to the college market and

stay true to the brand.• Designed posts to promote events, such as the 50 Shades of Red Valentines Day event, and shared them on instagram as

well as asked brand ambassadors to promote through their social media.

EMAIL• Sent surveys to current customers to see what they liked and did not like about Elijana Cosmetics, in order to help improve

the business.• Designed email blasts to promote events, such as a Rejuvenation Party, using attractive templates.• Created colorful emails to remind past customers of the business and to promote deals and discounts.

SORORITIES• Set up opportunities for Jana to speak at sororities during chapter meetings, and gave her speech guidelines to capture

their attention and maintain it throughout the meeting.• Created a plan to increase Instagram followers at those meetings by offering a free giveaway contest to whoever followed

her while she was at that sorority.• Designed and sent letters to sororities that highlighted our client’s services and offered premiere makeup services right

before their formal dances.

BRAND AMBASSADORS• Selected four college women to be ambassadors based on their resumes and connections with other UGA students.• Asked them to promote Elijana Cosmetics on social media, increase bookings and be general advocates for the brand.

EVENTS• Promoted each event on social media according to our audience, using language that either appealed to college

students or brides depending on the event.• Created deliverables that promoted the events while maintaining the brand and message of “Be your own kind of beautiful.”

executionexecution

REBRANDING

NEW BUSINESS CARDSWith a new look comes new promotional material! Jana and Anne got brand new business cards to pass out to their clients at photo shoots, sorority houses, and makeovers. The goal was to create a card that people would think twice about relegating

to the bottom of their purse.

UPDATED LOGO + SLOGANThe word “cosmetic” on Elijana’s old logo fit poorly with its accompanying type. This slight change doesn’t damage brand recognition but gives the company a subtle touch-up. We moved from “It’s All About You” to “Be Your Own Kind of

Beautiful.”

WEDDING COLOR PALETTEElijana reaches out to two very different audiences: brides and bold makeup-savvy women. The different color palettes separate the two subsets of Elijana’s

brand.

POSTCARDSElijana needed a quick and stylish way to inform women of their services and contact information. Their old material was boring and forgettable. We

created something eye-catching.

ENCOURAGING CONSISTENCY

STYLE GUIDES

SORORITY OUTREACH

GOALS• Create sorority loyalty• Increase awareness of the

company’s presence and services• Connect with the female college

market

ACTIONS• Customized flyers for each sorority,

offering lipstick parties and pop-up shops to get girls ready for formal

• Greek discount cards for any Elijana product or service

• Panhellenic lipstick party to welcome the new board members and form a relationship between the UGA greek system and Elijana Cosmetics

CHAPTER MEETINGSJana visited several sororities speaking at their chapter meetings. With her rebranded promotional materials, revamped social media presences, and written guidelines she was able to successfully increase her Instagram following and in-store bookings.

UMANO EVENT

UMANO + ELIJANA = BLISSA postcard designed to promote a co-sponsored event between Elijana and umano.

50 SHADES OF RED

VALENTINE’S DAY BOOKINGSIn order to appeal to a younger, college demographic we tapped into current culture using the 50 Shades of Gray movie premier to inspire this holiday booking

promotion.

BRAND AMBASSADORS

BRAND AMBASSADORS

THE PROCESSSending out flyers and listerv emails, we sought girls who would be responsible for brand advocacy, social media marketing, beauty blogging, client referrals, generating in-store traffic, and brainstorming new ideas for the company. Our four lovely ladies would earn points through their referrals, saving up to use on Elijana products and services. The ambassadors took matters into their own hands expanding their job descriptions to include a ‘look of the week’ giving our team confidence that they will continue to aid Jana with her business in the future. The brand ambassadors were pampered and made-over to show Elijana instagram followers what styles were currently trending - and more importantly to show the premier services Elijana can provide.

THE GIRLSWe received over eight applications within 24 hours of posting the Student Ambassador opportunity, and after a day of reviewing the final pile of applicants, we selected four girls who we thought would best be able to carry out the duties above and add value to the brand.

FUTURE GOALS• Set more rigid guidelines for ambassadors• Hold girls accountable for missed referal opportunities• Grow the beauty blog and encouarge girls to share their posts with friends• Continue to encourage ambassadors to define goals and tactics for themselves to generate new ideas

WEBSITE REDESIGN

WEBSITEThe new website reflects the luxury and professionalism of ELijana Cosmetics, two qualities which the previous one was lacking. This website will also have the capabilities to sell makeup online, increasing the scope of Elijana’s influence.

EMAIL BLASTS

GETTING THE WORD OUTElijana has a high-tech email system, tracking clients’ visits, purchases, and preferences. Email blasts are tailored by age, purchases, and point totals to maximize positive receival. Blasts have included point total reminders, discount alerts, and event announcements, such as for the Rejuvenation Party and Lipstick Parties.

PRODUCT GIVEAWAY

GUERILLA MARKETING

TARGETING DOWNTOWNThe “Find Your Shade” Guerilla Marketing strategy targets college-age girls, a smaller market within the overarching Elijana Cosmetics target audience. This campaign will allow for Elijana to focus on the customizability of its lipstick and highlight the store’s location in downtown. Our client will work in collaboration with local Athens bars, salons, and boutiques, to place adhesive lip-shaped stickers in various shades of Elijana’s customizable lipstick colors on mirrors within those venues. This guerilla tactic is named “Find Your Shade” as it encourages girls to line up their own lips with the lipstick shades to find the one that matches them best, as well as to search downtown Athens for the different locations to find the stickers. The hashtag #FindYourShade will prompt girls to participate in the campaign through social media, and ultimately visit Elijana Cosmetics to purchase the shade of lipstick they liked best.

BRAND VIDEO

THE PURPOSEThroughout the year, Elijana began focusing on sorority event makeup due to the untapped sorority market and received numerous bookings. The promotional video focuses on this service, highlighting the makeover process and results, while also showing the ambiance of the store. The background song, Taylor Swift’s “Style”, not only represents the physical aspect of one’s style, but also reflects the cool edginess that Elijana’s event makeovers encompass. Our client plans to use this video as a promotional spot on her website for visitors to virtually sample her work.

KISS THE MISS GOODBYE

INSTAGRAM EMAIL

measuringSUCCESS

SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram followers

August 2014: 243April 2015: 605

SORORITY INVOLVEMENTBookings after chapter announcements

Lipstick parties for small groupsOverall higher brand recognizability

EVENTSResponse from surveys

Bookings from e-mail blastsBrought customers to the store through Umano shows

BRAND AMBASSADORSPromote product and services via social media

Brought clients in monthly

MAILCHIMP EMAIL STATSBotox Party EmailOpen Rate: 37.2%Industry Average: 16.1%Click Rate: 0%Industry Average: 1.9%

50+ Points EmailOpen Rate: 43.8%Industry Average: 16.1%Click Rate: 3.1%Industry Average: 1.9%

3-49 Points EmailOpen Rate: 42.0%Industry Average: 16.1%Click Rate: 1.4%Industry Average: 1.9%

measuring

GOING MOBILEMoving forward, our client discussed the likelihood that she would exchange her storefront for a mobile, web-based business. This will remove many overhead costs, such as the rent, utilities, and maintenance, which will allow her profit margin to grow as long as she maintains a strong brand presence that we have helped her grow this year. In order to continue her success, Elijana Cosmetics will need to strengthen the visual impact of her site, by utilizing our website redesign, that runs on SquareSpace.

STUDENT BRAND AMBASSADOR PROGRAMWith our creation of the Elijana Student Brand Ambassador program, we hope our client continues to build a strong foundation and guidelines that will give the program enough structure to continue gaining ambassadors, as older ambassadors graduate. If Elijana Cosmetics moves to a solely mobile business, having strong on-campus brand presence in both Greek and non-Greek communities will be crucial for our client to continue to get formal pop-up shop and lipstick party bookings.

COHESIVE BRANDINGElijana Cosmetics has previously faced the issue of not having a singular brand image, but with our style guides and cohesive deliverables, we have temporarily solved said issue. However, in moving forward, we strongly recommend that our client sticks closely to the guides we have built for creating deliverables, in order for her brand to be easily recognizable. She should continue to separate the main store from her bridal makeup, as the two distinct color palettes help to distinguish the identities for the different consumers of her products and services.

SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCESocial platforms will be more important than ever if the store goes mobile. We suggest that, in conjunction with the student brand ambassador program, our client create a clean, unified voice when posting on both Instagram and Facebook (her main platforms), as well as improve the quality of her posts to be more relevant to her business. The student ambassadors can help to maintain the different platforms, giving our client the chance to expand to blogs, Pinterest, and Twitter.

FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

be your own kind of beautiful.