Marketing for Products with a Story: An F2F Volunteer's Experience in Colombia

By -
By F2F volunteer, Rebecca Roebber

Marketing is changing so fast with the influence of social media and access to the internet. There are so many products we are exposed to everyday, when we open our Instagram or browse through Facebook, companies send us emails with discounts and new products. How do we know what to buy anymore?

We are all looking to purchase products that speak to us, that stand out compared to other products. Great marketing shows us products that represent who we are, who we want to be, and what we believe in. I bet that if you look at some of the products you’ve recently purchased, you’ve felt that personal connection, even if you didn’t recognize that the company is working to connect.

An example of a connection that brands make with the customer is a chocolate company called “Endangered Species,” their brand is sold at Whole Foods and other natural grocery store and reaches a large audience that care about animals in the rainforest, that is a pretty straight forward message, that doesn’t really represent the quality of the chocolate at all. Only 10% goes back to endangered species, but their entire marketing strategy is putting faces of beautiful endangered animals in order to connect to their audience and it works! 

New products that don’t tell a story have a hard time finding an audience and don’t sell. It is no longer about the product itself, but the lifestyle and the story that comes with the product.

Livu, which comes from “Live You,” means that we should all be living the best versions of ourselves. Livu is a product that is made by Latina women for Latina women. Without even knowing what the product is I can already tell you that there is a huge audience to speak to. Fortunately, Livu’s story is not the only amazing part of the business, Livu is a natural cosmetic and body care line that represents the beautiful and colorful Latina culture and women all over the world. They make products that are vibrant, fragrant and affordable to Latina women and all women. 

Founder of Livu, Nathly Millan understands that a product is not just a product, it is a culture. Women want to feel alive, empowered and beautiful everyday and that is what Livu represents. She noticed that there was a demand for natural body care products in Colombia, but the only products like that were coming from the United States. The organic and natural body care companies in the US share a similar marketing strategy to one another: avoiding strong fragrances, using neutral colors in their packaging and they all have a high price point, making it hard for Colombian women to buy.

During two weeks working with Livu we developed a strong foundation for the business by creating a strategic marketing plan and designing Livu’s website. Defining Livu’s audience, analyzing and developing the website,  creating a marketing voice and a marketing plan to guide Livu.  We brainstormed best approaches on marketing, most effective social media platforms, packaging design and ways to collaborate with other like-minded businesses.

We started by identifying Livu’s audience so that all marketing materials speak to that group. We analyzed many websites with similar products. We looked at brands that had natural, organic body care products with a social and environmental mission similar to Livu. We wanted to see what were things that we felt were good things to include in our plan, include on the website and portray using social media. Once we had an idea of what we wanted to convey and who we wanted to convey it to, we worked on a marketing plan. Identifying interests of the audience, gathering ideas for types of posts and content, creating a calendar with important and relevant dates, a strategy for creating content and a plan to get it in front of the right people.

I have no doubt that Livu Beauty will have a successful launch and empower many women in the process!

Rebecca Roebber is the Marketing Director at indi chocolate in Seattle, WA. She has previously volunteered with Partners F2F in Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.

Comments

  1. UnknownSaturday, May 26, 2018

    Als Tractors having the all models of Mahindra farm equipments, Tractors sales, service, parts and finance. Check all the models and compare with our prices.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Better Marketing and Communications to Showcase the Work of our Hosts in Colombia

By -
Image
Salva Terra Foundation has focused on supporting vulnerable communities through sustainable agriculture. They work with impoverished populations and victims of violence in Medellin and aim to promote farming and develop local skills to work in the agricultural industry in an ecological manner. This process of bringing together concepts such as social impact, sustainable development, environmental protection, and food security requires excellent outreach and promotion. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to help them develop a communication and marketing plan. The chosen volunteer for this assignment was Dr. Sindy Chapa. She has a B.A. in Mass Media Communications, with a Minor in Television and Art Design, an MBA, and Ph.D. in International Business/Marketing. She is the Director and Associate Professor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University and has won several communications awards. Dr. Chapa decided to use Salva Terra as one of the case
Read more

My First Goat: A Professor, Students, and some Goats Tackle Food Insecurity in Rural Guatemala

By -
Image
Two Worlds Come Together to Build New Solutions against Malnutrition What does a USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) expert volunteer group from the island of Puerto Rico have to do with combatting food insecurity in Guatemala? Everything.  F2F volunteer Gabriela Colón Rios trains Mam Indigenous women to better care for their goats which will improve food security and reduce high malnourishment rates. Chiantla, Guatemala. Photo Credit: Monica Gonzalez In March 2023, a group of five eager F2F volunteers arrived in Huehuetenango (Huehue), Guatemala, with hearts and minds set on combatting food insecurity in a part of the world unknown to them.  Over the next 10 days, this team of experts would consider Huehue, in Guatemala’s Western Highland region, their new home and office. Accompanying them on their mission would be faithful companions and mighty conduits of change: goats.  Communities in this region live at altitudes reaching 10,000 feet above sea level nestled by captivating mountai
Read more

Digital Marketing in Colombia

By -
Image
Digital Marketing is one way that entrepreneurs and producers across the globe can reach new markets and increase sales. But what is digital marketing and how can a small Colombian business use it to maximize the number of people who come across its brand? These are the questions that Zen Naturals was asking itself. Zen Naturals is a natural cosmetic manufacturing company based in Cali, Colombia. Zen Naturals develops natural cosmetics made from exotic ingredients from Colombia’s outstanding biodiversity. Through ethical manufacturing and fair trade practices, they are also taking a leadership role in re-investing in the communities that grow the ingredients used in their products. Currently, Zen Naturals supports more than 95 Colombian quinoa farming communities through Fair-Trade Practices and technical assistance on their production. Zen Naturals is preparing to launch their quinoa facial care products in Whole Foods Markets in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. in 2017.
Read more