URBN Social is a community network that supports black-owned businesses, artists, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, spokespeople, politicians… you name it!

They share empowering and controversial news, as well as uplifting social trends, to both publicize and empower the black community. Their entire brand is about owning one’s identity and having pride in one’s heritage.

It can be said that URBN Social exists purely to celebrate black culture while providing audience’s around the world with an outlet to communicate their perspective, support one another, rally behind worthy causes, and see that wealth and social power builds in predominantly black communities.

However, even in this context, their message transcends race. They preach all-inclusivity. And though they only highlight black-owned businesses, artists, and trends, they do so to shed light on a culture that invites everyone — regardless of race, religion, age, or political orientation — to embrace, celebrate, and learn from the richness and beauty of their community.

We were here to see that URBN Social’s full potential could be reached. They came to us to rebuild their website and modernize their brand for a global undertaking. They have huge ambitions and it was clear that their original website could not carry their brand to the heights they envisioned. So, we go to work redesigning their social network so they could see their vision through.

SERVICES WE PROVIDED IN THE WEBSITE REBUILD

• Our graphics design team established improved brand guidelines by identifying primary, secondary, and tertiary brand colors.
• Our marketing team analyzed past website traffic to determine the most visited areas of the site, and built a sitemap to support these findings.
• Our graphic design team developed a mockup for the new and improved URBN Social website, citing key points of focus while spotlighting functionalities that could be improved with contemporary design principles
• Our web development team implemented our improved design while improving website functionality to heighten the user experience. Additionally, they rebuilt URBN Social’s massive business directory while adding payment gateways and advertising opportunities to add new revenue streams.

Our early success with the TruMoxy entertainment lounge proposal earned us another contract: the design of the Florida Panthers Marco Bar and West Coast Energy Drink.

This was an exciting opportunity to provide their organization with such a valued piece of graphic design. But the pressure was on. With little artistic direction to go off of and an outdated logo to boot, we had to create timeless packaging that would appeal to athletes and fans alike. To achieve this, we had to merge two brands into something that looked cohesive and still emanated with Panthers’ energy.

For the Macro Bar, we hand drew illustrations that embodied elements of Florida and hockey, which ultimately defined the look and feel of the Macro Bar and informed the design elements of the West Coast Energy Drink. It was on this assignment that we created a new logo variation for the Florida Panthers that was so beloved it was adapted into a shirt and handed out to fans their games.

Our success in designing the Marco Bar and West Coast Energy Drink earned us yet another design contract… the redesign of their concession stand cups, which would be sold during games and as souvenirs! But that’s not all. This was the catalyst for something far bigger…

Everglades Holiday Park is a wildlife education and entertainment experience in the Florida Everglades.

The mission of the park is to protect Florida’s most prized ecosystem while educating and exciting guests from all around the world through immersive activities, wildlife shows, interviews, and more.

When we first started working with Everglades Holiday Park, they were working to build authority in their profession and establish their name among the top wildlife parks in the region. With these business goals in mind, we created and executed annual marketing strategies designed to showcase their unique involvement with local wildlife, the guest experience, their attention to environmental stewardship and preservation, and the vibrant personalities that create such a welcoming and memorable adventure.

To achieve these goals, we created a strategy that involved detailed social media marketing complete with monthly video production, graphic design, and photography. Our team planned Everglade Holiday Park’s social media campaigns and managed tens of thousands of engagements from all over the world.

The Gator Boys are the main attraction at Everglades Holiday Park.

There are often misconceptions associated with alligators. Many people who have never interacted with them fear them because they simply don’t understand their nature.

The Gator Boys seek to change the public’s perception and to teach Florida locals and visitors not to fear alligators but to respect them and their environment. Their shows are a balancing act between adventure, suspense, and education. Daring maneuvers are performed with live alligators to show the majesty of these creatures and to teach the general public more about them.

Once The Gator Boys became the face of the park, we chose to keep them at the forefront of EHP’s social media. Over time, as their reputation became more widespread and the content associated with them increased in popularity, we were able to incorporate more species of wildlife into the content structure, such as information about snakes, birds, and mammals.

We grew Everglades Holiday Park’s Instagram to over 50k followers since taking over.

Our success can be attributed to the type of content we shared with their audience. In addition to the educational content featuring The Gator Boys and other staff, we included goofy media that coincided with seasonal themes and social themes to give our audience more reason to follow EHP’s account.

These were often done through graphic design and leaned heavily on pop culture and cult fiction. 

These messaging segments greatly increased user participation, raising engagement across the board. With more likes and comments on every post, we had a rare opportunity to create hilarious graphics and videos. Ultimately, this new collection of media showed EHP’s audience that the guest experience was enjoyable for adventurers of all ages and that EHP offered a totally unique journey through the Florida Everglades.

All in all, the inclusion of this media provided our audience playful breaks between realistic media, which helped diversity our content structure and the type of engagement we received from our audience.

Another significant focus in our content structure was showcasing the guest experience. 

This type of content was purposed to encourage user participation in social media. By showcasing the guest experience, we found that users were more likely to comment on our social media content and share their adventures with the community. Not only did this increase traffic to Everglades Holiday Park, but it also helped to market their attractions, like airboat tours, the petting zoo, and gator shows.

The involvement we received from EHP’s audience also helped with our online customer service. With tens of thousands of questions and comments to answer weekly, having users answer guest inquiries became a major advantage.

This level of community building also aided in increasing the amount of 5-star Google and Yelp! reviews, which led to EHP ranking higher on Google.

Below are some examples of the media we created to showcase some fan favorites, like airboat tours, wildlife encounters, and EHP’s beloved petting zoo.

Peretti Italy is an up and coming Italian fashion brand that we developed and positioned for international success.

The designer, Analisa Perretti, hired our team to design a chic brand image and lead the debut of her first fashion line: a collection of Italian summer dresses. The main challenge here was launching a brand with enough appeal to compete with the most popular high-end fashion brands in the industry, like Luis Vuitton, Prada, Dulce & Gabbana, and so on. This was a major challenge as Peretti Italy was entirely unknown and, therefore, did not have any standing in the fashion industry leading up to launch. But that wouldn’t stop us. We put our brains together and came up with a brand image that emits luxury.

Of the collection of branding and promotional materials we delivered for Peretti Italy, the most valuable were:

• A fully developed brand guideline (left)
• A thorough and thoughtful TOV document informing all aspects of brand communication
• Branded packaging with playful inserts for community development
• Branded business cards
• Original Photography (for social media)
• Original Videography (for social media)
• A detailed marketing strategy (with comprehensive industry and competitive analyses)

All of these services played an essential role in our overall launch strategy. With each successive piece of content in place, we were able to steadily build momentum and scale Annalisa Peretti’s social media following while positioning her audience to become first-time buyers at launch.

The evolution of the Peretti Italy brand was one of the more exciting developments.

We presented many options to the client, showing various applications of the brand in action to provide a realistic real-world point of view. After narrowing down our top 3 logos, we applied the favorited logos to multiple frontiers from storefront mockups to packaging, stationery, and more.

Our all-inclusive approach presents all of the necessary information for the client to make the best decision for their business. Furthermore, this level of detail provides rare insights into the evolution of the brand following launch.

No matter the project, we approach everything with one mindset: this brand is going to make it big! Because of this, we plan the brand’s growth years down the road. This forward-thinking snapshot shows what we expect the brand to achieve.

Check out the document to the right to see the evolution of the Peretti Italy brand and why we landed on the branding presented above.

Freebird is an exciting new real estate concept debuting in East Fort Lauderdale.

Freebird real estate agents focus on the unique lifestyle needs of their clientele to find them a home that best suits their way of living. Before beginning the home buying process, they take the time to get to know their clients personally. If you’re a yogi, an outdoorsman, a business person, a boater, a foodie (you get the point), they’ll learn about your interests and passions until they have a firm understanding of how you live. Then they’ll find you a perfect home in a neighborhood that exemplifies your lifestyle.

Freebird’s personalized program represents a massive paradigm for real estate in East Fort Lauderdale.

Freebird believes that how you live is the first step in deciding where you should live. They inject the home buying experience with a social-centric, no-pressure vibe, which provides their agents with the intel needed to locate your dream home in East Fort Lauderdale. This intimate process creates a positive and relaxed atmosphere in which their clients can experience life in East Fort Lauderdale before committing to a move.

The first step in branding Freebird was creating an image that would welcome home buyers, sellers, and those interested in the East Fort Lauderdale lifestyle.

Our image had to excite consumers by breathing life into real estate. Boring wouldn’t do. Ordinary wouldn’t do. Their real estate process contradicts the status quo, therefore, their branding had to be completely unique for the industry.

First, we created a color palette that was iconic to South Florida scenery yet unique to the Freebird brand. One important difference here is how it distinguishes the company from other real estate agencies. The client wanted to avoid mimicking the realtor aesthetic that has completely saturated the market. This decision inspired us to incorporate people into the branding collateral. Rather than showcase homes and realtors in suits, we chose to showcase real people living and enjoying the East Fort Lauderdale lifestyle.

Given that Freebird is redefining the real estate process for home buyers and sellers by making the entire experience more social and laidback in nature, we avoided using imagery or language that denoted hard sales. We want users to feel comfortable every time they interact with the Freebird brand. If we did not achieve this, then we risked devaluing the Freebird program, which would, ultimately, cast the brand in the same shade as generic real estate agencies.

The final product is a distinguished and easily identifiable brand image that we are confident will become an icon to real estate in East Fort Lauderdale. No other company embodies the same values, energy, or process as Freebird, which is why the branding is so effective.

The crown jewel of Freebird’s branding and marketing is their website.

We designed and developed a digital home that exemplifies the Freebird program. The entire website is built around the user experience. It is designed to excite consumers, inform them of the benefits of Freebird’s unique program, show them the validity of their process and encourage them to reach out to schedule a tour with a Freebird agent.

The greatest challenge we faced in the creation of the website was the interactive map for the Areas East page. This custom design provides an overview of East Fort Lauderdale, showing major points of interest and the locations of the most iconic and livable neighborhoods in the city. Our interactive map allows users to embark on a digital tour of East Fort Lauderdale. Each icon leads to a unique page that provides lifestyle information and pictures of the neighborhood, the most recent real estate statistics, and a few Freebird favorites.

To exemplify the laidback, social-centric appeal of Freebird real estate in Fort Lauderdale, we created a custom lifestyle quiz. This casual intake form preps users for the program and provides Freebird agents with a few talking points to get to know their clients on a personal level. A major function of the site is to ease consumers into this new real estate process while gently feeding them information on the Freebird brand and what awaits their new life in East Fort Lauderdale.

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES | TRANSFORMING LIVES

Hollywood Community Housing Corporation is solving the Los Angeles housing crisis by providing communities with affordable housing, enrichment opportunities, and supportive services.

Perspective is the root to their success in tackling this crisis. Rather than look at communities and decide their needs they look to communities for guidance. They don’t make assumptions. They speak to the people, learn their hardships and their greatest needs, then deliver the means for them to overcome their greatest obstacles.

We believe that outreach that provides people the tools and insights to create change for themselves produce the greatest results. We appreciate everything that Hollywood Community Housing Corporation is doing for the city of Los Angeles. When they came to us to create their company branding video — to showcase their mission, ideology, and promise for the future — we were all in!

A major focus of the video is explaining how their organization works for the people of L.A. By showing how their leadership works alongside those who are vulnerable, yet driven to improve their lives and their communities, we created a video that is equal parts community, results-driven, uplifting, and optimistic. It is a showcase of their passion, determination, legacy, and vision… and that carries immense weight.

Our company profile video conditions viewers to invest in the HCH mission.

Brand storytelling is effective because it is emotional (and humans are creatures of emotion).

The effectiveness of our marketing booklet was dependent on the impact of our company profile video, which is featured on the homepage of the Hollywood Community Housing website. This video is the showcase and comprehensive overview of their mission. But it is not rigid, boring, or stuffy. It focuses on people, positive change, progress, and a selfless determination to empower those in hard times. These messages resonate with a lot of people, but especially with Hollywood Community Housing’s target demographics.

To generate the best results, we were created a marketing booklet to be distributed alongside the premier of Hollywood Community Housing’s company video. The marketing booklet shows a different side of the same mission. It gets into the numbers and the facts, informing our audience of the crisis, the longterm downside if it doesn’t get solved, and the strides that HCH is making to change Los Angele’s housing landscape.

Hover over the image to the left and click the button to open Hollywood Community Housing’s marketing brochure and invest in their mission.

Working with United Way has always been a pleasure for us. The strides they continue to make within our community is palpable. They strive to take on community issues head on by partnering up with schools, government agencies, businesses, organized labor, financial institutions, community development corporations, neighborhood associations, and the faith communities.

United Way has changed our community immeasurably for the better and we want to continue to help that movement prosper in any way we can.