work

The yacht charter market is hugely competitive.    Our client was not only competing with other companies on their own islands, but also other sailing destinations.    They wanted us to develop a press campaign that created a point of difference and had stand-out in the crowded classified pages of the sailing magazines.

We started by researching the competition; from imagery used, key message to copy tone.   We discovered a very generic market focused on convincing the reader to “come sailing” without giving any real point of difference to choose one company over another.

Following our discovery phase which included market research, a mystery customer enquiry exercise and talking to charter guests and other stakeholders, we developed a campaign that not only highlighted the superior levels of service provided by our client, but also communicated their Caribbean roots.   The headline states “you deserve a 5-star customer experience”.   The colour palette included the corporate blue but we also added the accent colour of lime to reinforce the Caribbean vibe.

We were asked to take over the entire marketing communications role for Horizon Yacht Charters.  Horizon has bases in the BVI, Grenada and St Vincent.    First we had to develop a clear brand positioning; out of which, all communications would flow.

Following the discovery phase, we developed a positioning of “with us, be extraordinary”.  The premise that all other charter companies were “ordinary” and delivered ordinary sailing vacations.  Horizon was different.

We launched this positioning with a campaign around LESS ORDINARY, MORE EXTRAORDINARY.  This ran through all press, interstitials, digital marketing, channel art,  newsletter banners, video etc.

In order for all stakeholders to be on board with the new font usage and colour palette, we created a brand palette for consistency across all media.

Concepts presented showing the development of the Less/More positioning:

Over time, as the positioning became established, we developed the ‘extraordinary’ thought around the idea of “extra”.  You get so much more with a Horizon sailing experience.

As part of the overall marketing role, we were also responsible for:

• Blog content; ideas and copywriting
• Google advertising; ensuring consistent messaging
• Monthly newsletters; idea generation, copywriting and response analysis
• Created downloadable and automated content for the website around Learn to Sail Tips
• Created a stand-alone communication sent online called ISLAND EATS.  A selection of automated recipe’s courtesy of the crewed yacht chefs.
• Boat show attendance
• Yacht Charter Broker Mailing

Developed the idea of having a regular mailing sent out to preferred brokers.  We called it HORIZON TALK:

We handled all of the press advertising; both on and offline with titles such as Cruising World, Sail and Blue Water Sailing magazines:

We were asked by St John Hospice in Antigua to help them with their social media communication.  The team consisted  mainly of volunteers who were busy working in the two thrift shops; selling donated items and all proceeds went into running the Hospice.

We spent time at the Hospice, the peaceful gardens and the two stores in order to better understand the work of the Hospice and the reality that it is run entirely on donations from very kind people.

We started by elevating the shops through the posts on Facebook to create a retail environment;  a place where people would want to browse and perhaps arrive with a distinct item in mind that they had seen advertised.   We photographed many of the shop items in appealing settings – waterside, lush backdrops etc.   We also grouped items together that could be bought by one person; a baseball cap, jeans and sneakers, for example.

We also began a campaign to encourage more donations; emphasizing the new or nearly new nature of the donations.   We wanted a place for people to drop donations so that the trip into the main City would not be prohibitive to receiving these items.  We started to talk about pick-ups and collections.  This led us to identifying certain places round the island that would take a donation barrel.  We created a STOP, DROP, DONATE branding that was distinctive and reflected the quality of the brand.  We encouraged various businesses to accept a barrel.

We also upgraded the Facebook posts so that the information posts had a distinct look and feel:

Pre-Covid, we had the idea to create a stand-alone “business attire” area in one of the shops and call it “Styled for business, by St John Hospice”.  This was to encourage a different audience to consider the Hospice shops as a place to buy gently-used, office wear or an outfit for an interview.

We also had the idea of “Donate a bauble” so that the Christmas tree in the actual Hospice was dressed beautifully for the Holiday Season; bringing joy to the residents.

We started working with Jolly Harbour Marina & Boatyard and the brief was simple; reflect the reality of what we do, day in, day out, through their social media channels.

During the “discovery” phase, we spent a great deal of time talking to the team on the ground, we spent sessions with their customer service team, the General Manager and, importantly, their clients on the dock.  We were able to arrive at a brand positioning that was both distinct in Antigua and perhaps the Caribbean.

In order to shape the communications, we created a brand personality for the Marina around “community” and “Marina family”.   We communicated this through the style of post and video content and the style of the brand narrative.   We included many of the Marina customers in our communications; thus enhancing this sense of one family and community spirit.

To ensure that the engagement levels remain high, the posts tend to be a “fly on the wall” style of reportage around the Marina.  From the team hauling out boats, to the maintenance crew fixing the dock.

Following this, the scope of work developed into updating the logo and the colour palette.

We also began working with the website designer to create a brand new website.  We made recommendations on the theme, created the site map, took all the photography, undertook the copywriting and tested the site prior to launch.  The website has a NEWS section that we update frequently; from idea to copywriting and photography.

In addition to social media and website, we also handle their PPC Google Advertising campaigns, reviewing Google Analytics, press advertising and website management.

We were asked by this well established real estate company – Absolute Properties Antigua – to take over their social media channels in order to raise their profile and drive engagement in the home purchase, vacation rental and project management markets.

Following several discovery meetings, we were able to arrive at a brand positioning that would help us shape the content and the post copy.

We took their logo – the aqua blue pineapple – and built a mini brand campaign around that icon.  The campaign focused on two aspects:  firstly, to communicate the brand values of the business and secondly, to encourage people to pick up the telephone.  In this world of automation, we wanted to share their friendly and playful personality.

To keep the campaign topical, we use key events that are globally recognised – such as Thanksgiving and the Christmas/Holiday Season – to push their selling points.

With the launch of the new James Bond movie in 2021, we created our own Bond story to communicate the high level of personal service Absolute Properties provide.

For the Instagram feed, we amended the Profile to include more keywords and also added our “pineapple logo icon” highlights.  The highlights reflect very clearly the key pillars of business.

Outside of the mini brand campaign, we create content across both Facebook (Stories and Feed) and Instagram (Stories and Feed) that showcases Antigua, Jolly Harbour, tropical island living and the renovation projects they undertake.

La Brasserie D’Antigua is a stunning, Antigua restaurant located waterside and overlooking English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard.  As well as running an ‘open all day’ restaurant, they also have a bakery producing traditional French pastries and bread.  They were keen to raise their profile in the competitive restaurant market in English Harbour.  They were already successful but realised that they had little time to handle their own marketing.  They wanted to concentrate on the business of running the business.

We started this campaign by taking over the client’s Facebook and Instagram feeds and reviewing what they’ve been doing and with what results.  We also spent many hours enjoying some amazing food and cocktails (all in the name of research).  We took photographs and video: of food, of furries, of boats, of water, of cocktails. We spent time with the restaurant owners; we observed how they interacted with their customers.   We call this the “discovery” phase.  From here, we were able to clearly create a brand positioning and narrative for their future marketing.

It’s only by going through this phase that we can truly understand the heart of the brand and to then communicate this brand personality across various channels.

The results?  We increased Instagram following by 60% and we increased Facebook following by 92%.   The true sign of success is a full restaurant and daily orders for pastries!

We created a distinct look and feel across both Facebook and Instagram; creating a colour palette and font discipline.  We upgraded their Profile/About sections in order to maximise the use of keywords in search.  We created a suite of highlights in order to showcase specific selling points.

For us, the brand is the philosophy of a French bistro.  From the cuisine to the relaxed “nothing is too much trouble” atmosphere that Isabelle creates front of house.   The answer is always “Mais oui”.

To create another unique selling point, we started to tell the story of Chef Eric’s passion for great, French food.  To do this, we used Instagram and Facebook Stories with Chef Eric quotes and imagery.    The thread running through each story is ‘love’; a powerful identifier for the restaurant and unclaimed elsewhere in Antigua.