Creative Director & Branding Consultant
Case Study: Marin Bee & Planet Bee
CHALLENGE:
Rebrand and position an organic skincare company to enter the national retail space, while launching the company founders’ nonprofit.
The Brand:
Rebrand a natural and organic skincare company following a change in their key ingredient
Position a small skincare brand to catch the attention of national retailers and press outlets
The Nonprofit:
Align the skincare company’s brand identity with the mission of the nonprofit it supports
Develop name and identity for the launch of the skincare company founders’ nonprofit
BACKGROUND:
California-based Marin Bee Company’s Pure Honey Skincare Collection was originally developed with the key ingredient Certified Organic Honey Imported from the Brazilian Rainforest. Its packaging and branding reflected this with an European Colonial–era vibe that featured tropical flowers and a royal crown.
The company pivoted from Brazilian honey to locally sourced California Wildflower Honey. The brand needed a fresh California vibe to reflect this positive shift to a local key ingredient, with an emphasis on how the locally sourced honey better aligned with company founders’ mission to launch an environmental education nonprofit focused on bees.
The founders’ new 501c3 nonprofit required a name and identity that supported its mission and clarified its call to action. Branding for both the skincare company and nonprofit needed to reflect this new unique partnership.
RESULTS:
The skincare market is extremely saturated and competitive, but by aligning Marin Bee’s key ingredient with the nonprofit’s mission, an authentic story emerged that resonated with consumers, attracted retail partners and grabbed the attention of press outlets. Rebranding and creating stunning packaging that supported that story elevated the brand beyond its humble beginnings in the founders’ kitchen to national recognition.
National Press:
Major Retail Partnerships:
Industry Recognition and Awards:
Impact:
Creative branding and strategic partnering attracted both consumer attention and professional make-up artists
Awareness and funding for the nonprofit grew exponentially attracting corporate sponsorships and educating over 20,000 students
WHAT I DID:
Brand Identity
Packaging Redesign
Core Branding Assets
Marketing & Sales Collateral
Digital, Print & Experiential Campaigns
Content Strategy
Copywriting
BRANDING NARRATIVE:
Marin Bee’s Pure Honey Skincare Collection features California wildflower honey and was originally hand-crafted by its founder in her kitchen. To authentically tie the brand back to its origins, photographs of California wildflowers local to the Bay Area taken by the founder were the base of the newly redesigned packaging and branding. An artist was commissioned to hand-draw illustrations based on the founder’s flower photographs. These hand-drawn elements support the link between sustainable sourced California wildflower honey and the origins of the brands formulas being hand-crafted. Each individual products has a unique California wildflower allowing it their own identity. Ingredients key to each product are highlighted on the front of the packaging to furthering the story. The overlay of honeycomb on each product box tells its own color story. The overall effect being each product stands on its own with a specific wildflower illustration and color story, but when the collection is presented in its entirety, it mimics a field of wildflowers, a vibrant habitat for bees and other pollinators. This was the final step in linking the brand to the bee-focused environmental, education nonprofit it supports, Planet Bee Foundation.
MARKETING STRATEGY:
It was important to align the brand and nonprofit’s mission to help save the bees in an organic and interactive way. An artist was commissioned to design a bee coloring page that was included along with bee facts in all the products. This “Color Me Bee-utiful” campaign was a fun and educational way for consumers to bring attention to bees while engaging with the brand. Marin Bee fans were encouraged to draw the bee in and share on social media platforms with the hashtag #marinbee for a chance to win products. A page on the website was devoted to the campaign as well.
Pollination relies on providing food to bees, and Marin Bee and Planet Bee jumped on board with the program with branded seed packets that made for memorable and purposeful giveaways at trade shows and helped amplify the unboxing experience with press and influencers.
WHAT I DELIVERED:
Brand Solutions
Logo Creation & Naming
Package Redesign
Authentic Brand Narrative
Engaging & Consistent Collateral
Dynamic Marketing Campaigns
Amplified Unboxing Experience
Clarified Call to Action
Functional and Relevant Digital Experience
Collaborative Project Management Tools and Platforms Utilized:
Basecamp, Agile, Google Drive, Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, Asana, Dropbox and Slack
My Reflections:
My work for Marin Bee and Planet Bee confirms my belief that authentic storytelling is the key to brands and nonprofits reaching their audience and engaging them in missions they are invested in.
If you’d like to see more case studies or hire me, please contact me.