Written by Jed Morley – Brand Strategist & CMO
Brand Takeaways is an interview series with brand leaders about the guiding principles and best practices they’ve used to build successful brands. Rachel Hofstetter, CMO at Chatbooks, shared her thoughts about creating content that sells. Here are the takeaways.
Jed: Chatbooks collaborated with Harmon Brothers to create a video that has generated 75M views and counting. Did you think your video would go viral?
Rachel: When you create a video, you can never count on organic virality, but we were very glad that our “Real Mom” video did go viral! We created it to be an effective paid ad and explain our unique product and brand, and the virality was a bonus.
Jed: What are the client’s responsibilities when it comes to providing creative direction?
Rachel: Clients know their brands and products best, so it’s their responsibility to define what their brand stands for and provide clear, consistent direction. But outside partners also bring fresh perspective and insight—sometimes, you can be too close to something and not see the forest for the trees!
For our Harmon Brothers video, we focused on communicating the idea that Chatbooks offers an ongoing series of photo books; it’s a whole different way of photo-booking than a one-time vacation book. Maintaining this focus throughout the script-writing process, and being vigilant about removing anything that distracted from it helped us achieve our business objectives.
Jed: Using humor can be tricky. How did you strike the right balance in your video?
Rachel: We worked with the Harmon Brothers team to find the right ratio between funny segments and selling points. The creative process is give and take. The Harmon Brothers are brilliant and we wanted to let them do their magic, but we also needed to own what we know to be true about our customers. We provided the Harmon team with a lot of information and insight upfront and we were clear about our point of view. It was an iterative process and our sales numbers indicate that together we got it right.
Jed: Do you feel like this video helped you define the Chatbooks brand?
Rachel: We already had a strong brand identity, so we had more to lose than an emerging brand would have had with a statement video like the “Real Mom” video. We wanted the video to clarify and expand the brand, not create one from scratch.
Jed: What has helped you build strong relationships with outside creative partners?
Rachel: We strive to have a very friendly relationship with our creative partners. Building strong relationships goes a long way. We try to treat agency partners like teammates, inviting them over for lunch at our weekly Town Halls and including them in strategy and planning conversations.
Jed: How do you know an insight when you see one?
Rachel: I think of an insight as something we can act on, something that helps us make good business decisions. For example, we’ve noticed that moms have shifted away from posting static photos on Instagram. Instead, they’re posting 5- to 10-second videos on Instagram Stories. That changes how we think about talking to our customers and the products we offer them. Customer behavior is always changing and evolving.
Jed: Where does your team find inspiration?
Rachel: We encourage our team members to look out at the whole wide world for inspiration—to sign up for emails from brands we admire and who have similar target customers, follow brands and influencers on social media, and look at our own experiences for inspiration. For example, we admire what Chick-fil-A’s marketing and customer experience, so we all went out for a team lunch to our local shop to learn and get new ideas.
We’ve created a Slack channel dedicated entirely to sharing ideas, and we use that as inspiration to level up so they can work in our space in an interesting way. We don’t live in a bubble. Everything we do relates to our jobs as marketers, whether it’s talking to someone in line at a restaurant or watching the Olympics. It all feeds our well of brand fodder.
Jed: Is Chatbooks a lifestyle brand?
Rachel: People love lifestyle brands for their point of view, just as much as they like them for their products. And today, social media helps all of us find things we like and relate to. We would love for Chatbooks to be a lifestyle brand and for people to think of us as a source of advice, inspiration, entertainment, connection and community—and then find their way to our product.
About Guest Contributor: Jed Morley is a brand strategist. He helps CEOs and founders create clear, compelling brand stories that align marketing messages across departments and accelerate growth.
