Strategy: Mock-up

This is purely an educational endeavor, and I was not paid for my work!

Identification of Issue-

I believe Sci Fi Fantasy is a fantastic brand, every die-hard skateboarder I know sings high praises about the shape, materials, and designs of the skateboards. But I believe that their cool and mysterious aesthetic may be affecting the brands’ sales.

They currently only have two social media platforms, YouTube and Instagram as well as their website. While these platforms are cool and promote the brands style of multicolored crazy visuals and an almost alien feel, it is easy to see how most consumers would maybe not associate it with a skateboarding brand (3 & 8). Realistically, most first-time buyers would assume their Instagram and YouTube are showcasing a skate group’s highlights and not an actual brand (2).

With these issues in mind, I selected Sci Fi Fantasy for the brand I will perform my social media project on, and I believe that by making the brand’s products clearer to customers through communication from already existing channels, they will see an increase in both sales and brand awareness.

Audience Analysis-

To start, the available market of skateboarders is as Zoë B. Corwin states, “A nation-wide skateboarding survey conducted by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA)1 reports that according to 2017 survey data, there are slightly over 6.3 million skateboarders in the United States, the majority of whom are between the ages of 6-17 (approximately 3.4 million), with 1.3 million between the ages of 18-24 and 1.7 million over the age of 25.” (1). This large market is obviously not all going to buy Sci Fi Fantasy’s products, but an unexpected aspect of the skateboarding market is that like the golf market, consumers think buying the newest item gives them an advantage above other customers; and skateboarders have to repurchase decks frequently since they tend to break or wear out from repeated usage (4). So, skateboarders are constantly switching brands to find a skateboard that they like or a brand they can connect to. Because of the age range of the market, it’s hard to identify the social media patterns the audience may have. But we can assume that the brand has aligned their communications since Instagram and YouTube can reach far audiences, and that communicating with these age groups would easiest on these sites. Though I do think aligning the communication across already existing channels would help boost the brand’s awareness.

Current opportunities the industry faces is novelty (7). At the moment, competing brands are trying to separate their products by adding new materials to their boards, like Element, who have created a deck out of eco-friendly materials, and Santa Cruz, whose created an all-terrain wheel to travel over rough ground (7). This opportunity is great for Sci Fi Fantasy since their novelty comes from their mysterious aura, and by continuing to capitalize on this with things like unexpected drops, they could possibly see an increase in customers.

Sci Fi Fantasy’s audience enjoys the niche and mysterious communications the brand puts out, their comments are always hyped about the newest video, drop, and skate clip the brand distributes (3). Since being nonchalant is the new cool, many skaters enjoy the mystery around Sci Fi Fantasy and their lack of direct communications. The audience also appreciates the unique designs of the brand and their overall aesthetic, making not just the brand shine, but also making the customers feel unique and different among their peers.Overall, Sci Fi Fantasy appeals to lifestyle that values creativity, originality, and a sense of exclusivity.

Brand Research-

It’s important to note that most skateboard brands are anti-corporation, meaning they don’t like the look that corporate brands usually hold themselves too, so throughout this project my goal is to maintain Sci Fi Fantasy’s aesthetic and identify how to help their social media grow without changing who they are fundamentally as a brand (4 & 5).

To start, their YouTube is composed of two videos. These videos showcase the usual skate highlights, lowlights, and the community & love skateboarders have for one another. But they are also riddled with futuristic videos, beautiful colors, and random clips such as cars on fire etc. This is very normal for almost all skate brands, even powerhouses in the industry use this longer video style on YouTube to highlight their brand-aligned skaters and help promote their brand to consumers watching the videos (8).

Their Instagram is mixed with promotional posts announcing drops, posts highlighting specialty items in drops, and clips of their team using their boards & generally just showing that they are having fun through their posts. I think their brand voice is humorous, non-serious, mysterious, and informative, they usually don’t have worded captions unless it’s a promotional drop, their captions seem to be emojis or tagging their team. But their posts themselves are filled with funny pictures and clips of skaters using their boards, so while the voice isn’t easily identifiable through their direct communication to consumers, it’s more recognizable through their posts (3). Because of how they use their brand voice it makes sense their media style is focusing more on short-form video (Instagram) and long-form video (YouTube), since these styles of content seem to resonate with their audience the most, and is able to keep Sci Fi Fantasy intriguing through the lack of direct communications on non-promotional posts.

So, Sci Fi Fantasy has an incredibly unique brand voice and style and is unlike anything I have seen before. Their use of futuristic, neon colors paired with a non-serious and mysterious voice creates a differentiated approach to marketing and promotion of their products. The content they have already produced matches this style of voice perfectly and is already well liked among their audience.

Smart Goal-

The SMART objective that I believe will help Sci Fi Fantasy with aligning their communications is “Increase social media awareness by 15% over the next 6 months by making its product communication clearer and more consistent across it’s social media channels while keeping its current mysterious aesthetic” I think that by setting this achievable goal Sci Fi Fantasy could see an increase of first-time customers from improved brand communications.

Strategy Statement-

Sci Fi Fantasy’s social media strategy will focus on maintaining its mysterious, non-serious, and colorful brand identity while making product communication clearer and more consistent across their already existing channels. The main goal is to help followers identify Sci Fi Fantasy as a skate brand with unique products, special drops, and team content, not just an aesthetically filled page for a skate group. I believe this strategy will help Sci Fi Fantasy because while the aesthetic is very appealing to the target market already, it will help newcomers to the brand be less confused with the offerings Sci Fi Fantasy provides.

Measurement of Success-

The metrics that will be used to define success will be behavioral, I think Sci Fi Fantasy should especially focus on website visits coming from their social medias, comments that show genuine curiosity, repeat engagement from followers, and follows that come after product related posts are made. The content will move followers through the AIDA model, beginning with attention; striking and unique visuals will catch viewers attention, then will build interest with clear product communication, therefore creating desire when pairing those new promotional items by having their team demonstrate those products on their page. And finally encouraging action through drop announcements and providing their website link, this plan would hopefully create customer advocacy through increased website visits & purchases, repeat engagement, and positive word-of-mouth to other customers.

Engagement will be measured using vanity metrics, counting likes, comments, shares to understand how the market is reacting to clearer communication. The goal is increase their social media awareness, and through the metrics provided it will be easily trackable to see if the content is providing clear communication to newcomers to Sci Fi Fantasy Skateboards.