21
January
2020
|
07:27
Europe/Amsterdam

‘Stick to your brand voice’ by WodBottom

Customer care that makes you giggle and resonates with who they are

Either you are a big brand, or a small one, knowing and breathing your own identity is what sets you apart from your competitors. Being distinctive works. Embrace your creative character, explained by G-Star RAW. Or create your own content based on data, as done by Flinders.

WodBottom sells booty shorts for CrossFit. For those who are not familiar with these bootylicious booty shorties, the special thing is the fit and if they stay in place during the workout. Next, a bit controversial, some people are quite opinionated about all shapes and size women wearing these short shorts. By a lack of shorties with excellent fit, high-quality fabric and with some sparkling designs, Emily Ruyle founded WodBottom. ‘WOD’ stands for ‘Work Out of the Day’ the name for the daily training in Crossfit. ‘Bottom’, well, that speaks for itself.

With a profound background in marketing and product development, Emily is very explicit about the brand voice of WodBottom. ‘What makes a person love it and buy again and again, is the emotional pull.’ In two years’ time, she developed the current slightly controversial and authentic brand voice. Sticking to it and standing firmly about it. In times of feedback, WodBottom showed that they were not stepping down due to negative comments from others about all women wearing booty shorts. Customers embraced the brand for being firm where they stood for.

‘Put your money where your mouth is.’ Strive to focus on the brand message and be who you are. ‘Sure you want to be profitable, yet it is not so much about making sales.’ ‘Focus on the long term game to keep customers happy and engaged.’

 

Emily Ruyle, Marketing Director and Activewear Designer
What makes a person love it and buy again and again, is the emotional pull
Emily Ruyle, Marketing Director and Activewear Designer

Brand voice

In Emily her own words ‘Everybody has their unique way to shine.’ ‘I wish I could convey to people they should forget about the word ‘should’. I don’t like it when someone says ‘they should’. Whatever… Who created those rules what people should and should not do? Accepting what other people do, would make the world a better place.’

Key elements to her brand

  • Create what people talk about. A lot. Online and offline. This has two elements. Design to show off your personality on the but cheeks. Her first design sold out immediately, unicorns and rainbows. From there on expanding into florals and abstract. Nowadays, at request by the fans, also solid colors. The second is quality. Creating shorties that stay in place, cover your cheeks and are squat proof. No matter the workout.
  • ‘Don’t be in the game for the money. Be there to create a relationship that matters.’ Listen to what they want, what they love and are passionate about.
  • ‘Trust in the brand is essential. Give them a great product and even better experience. Value the customer more than their wallet.’
  • Honest feedback shows her how valuable the customers are. Customers want to be heard and they like sharing their ideas and frustrations. What makes them happy or sad.
  • Customers define your brand and give authentic feedback on how you are performing. Plus it is unique feedback on how to grow and expand your brand. Emily listens in several ways to keep up and to improve customer experience: Facebook Groups, email, and text, Ambassadors and Influencers program. 

 

Content strategy

The brand voice comes to life in the content strategy. The fun and funky designs that show personality with humor and a sarcastic tone of voice define the assets. The visuals are a bit raw and unpolished. Authentic in the typical recognizable very not photogenic CrossFit box settings. Emily has made a deliberate decision not to use the professional-looking polished picture-perfect photos for her products. This doesn’t resonate with who the brand is.

The customer-centricity also resonates in the posts. Honest, open and raw feedback. The reviews, quotes, and pictures taken by the ladies themselves are used on the website, on social and even in Facebook advertising.

 

Two types of content

The posts are split into two categories. Next to the bootylicious product posts, Emily speaks up via her blog. ‘Supporting women’ to ‘accept the way we are’ in ’all different shapes and sizes’. The blog that most impressed me is about ‘Body Positivity’. This is a common topic amongst female athletic brands such as Nike, Under Armor and many others. The big difference in the brand voice of WodBottom is that she takes it a step further. In the second part of this particular blog, a big shout out for women themselves not to judge the other women ‘What about how we treat others?’. Love this distinctiveness! Read her blog

 

Customer care the makes you giggle

For the sake of the great fun-loving and slightly different customer experience that makes you giggle, order a pair of booty shorts at WodBottom. Get onboard Emilys’ customer experience journey. Steal with pride that best fits your brand and your brand voice. For a small investment of $42 you get a pair of these shorties and you gain a great example by the book for customer experiences and the feeling there is a real person behind the brand. wodbottom.com/

 

More on customer-centric

More interviews