Handmade Magic
Crafting Buff City Soap’s First Holiday Campaign
Buff City Soap faced three significant hurdles in launching its debut holiday campaign. First, the brand had no established seasonal branding or creative framework to build upon. Second, we operated under a compressed timeline, with all campaign assets required by Q2's end to meet promotional deadlines. Most importantly, the campaign needed to strike a careful balance - capturing holiday cheer while remaining inclusive enough to resonate with all customers, avoiding overused Christmas imagery. These constraints demanded innovative thinking to develop fresh, versatile creative that would appeal to diverse shoppers while establishing Buff City's first holiday brand identity under tight deadlines. The challenge lay in creating something both distinctively festive and broadly welcoming.
Client
Buff City Soap
Role
Creative Direction, Design + Animation
Deliverables
A cohesive holiday campaign featuring Buff City’s core products, including festive in-store signage, animated social media content (GIPHY stickers, Instagram stories), and print collateral (gift bags, tags, and staff uniforms) – ensuring a cohesive holiday brand experience across all customer touchpoints.
Design & Creative Approach
Messaging: Collaborated with an in-house copywriter to craft the campaign’s taglines: “Handmade Magic” and “Buff Soaps are like snowflakes, no two are just alike.”
Tone and Style: Created a whimsical yet sophisticated aesthetic that avoided a juvenile feel, aligning with Buff City Soap’s brand identity.
Visual Language: Utilized the brand’s signature illustration style and photography, featuring bright white tones to evoke the feeling of winter.
Color Palette: Used Buff City Soap’s signature colors—Buff blue, pink, and white—with subtle hints of red for contrast, maintaining brand recognition while embracing the holiday spirit.
Visual Development: Illustrated and established the visual language for the entire campaign, ensuring consistency across various touchpoints.
In-Store Signage: Designed holiday-themed signage to create a festive atmosphere in stores, capturing the magic of the season.
Social Media Assets: Created animated Giphy icons, Instagram story highlights, and social media posts that brought the campaign to life digitally.
Print Materials: Developed a range of print materials, including gift bags in various sizes, gift tags, and festive uniforms for soap makers.
The Impact
The holiday campaign achieved resounding success across all levels of the organization. Stakeholders at Buff City Soap celebrated the initiative, applauding both its creative vision and execution. The campaign resonated powerfully with customers, driving measurable engagement across digital platforms and in physical stores while boosting seasonal sales. Most significantly, it established Buff City Soap's first formal holiday playbook—creating an enduring framework that now guides all future seasonal campaigns and has become the gold standard for the brand's festive marketing efforts.