Naukabout Kickstarts Awareness for Its New Branded Aprés Sports Apparel Line

Studio 22 Creates Print Intro Piece That Delights Consumers and CEOs Alike

Adam Conley is the Director of Operations for Naukabout, a lifestyle brand specializing in Afterwear: comfortable, quality clothing for people to savor their favorite moments after work and sport. With the key components of a private-label apparel line, The Naukabout Music Festival and the Camp Naukabout Scholarship Fund, Naukabout’s vision is to inspire and create opportunities for people to experience the power of comfort and relaxation and to encourage people of all ages to pursue and preserve their own naukabout moments. Founded in 2007, Naukabout is a private company headquartered in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with its corporate office in Rhode Island. For more information, please visit the Naukabout website.

THE CHALLENGE
We began working with Studio 22 one year ago, in 2008. Our company had been in operation for 6 months at the time, so we were a young company. Our challenge was simply evolving our brand.

When you’re a young company, so many people are learning about you for the first time. When they see us at an event we’re sponsoring or hosting, they may never have heard of us before.

Our internal creative team had already developed a logo, a website, and an ecommerce site—so our brand was established—but we didn’t have that extra material for when we did events or gave presentations.

We were looking for someone who could help us with print material and intro brochures. Someone who could come in, understand our story, and not just create a print piece, but apply a fresh eye to it.

WHY STUDIO 22?
When Eryn reached out to me, I was looking for a designer I could have face-to-face meetings with. And Studio 22 wasn’t really close enough to do that.

But I really liked Eryn’s portfolio, saw she had worked with similar clients, and liked the organizations she was aligned with. It made a lot of sense to bring someone on board who shared so many connections with us.

She shared a lot of our values and interests—outdoors, active lifestyle. It worked out perfectly.

Also, I thought she was someone who seemed reliable and responsible. One of the most important things at the time was not only getting the messaging and creative in the way we wanted, but also doing so in a timely manner so we could meet our deadlines. She outlined all that for us and said ‘Two weeks for this, three days for that,’ so I knew for each component where we would stand, which was very important.

THE SOLUTION
One thing that surprised me about working with Eryn was how quickly she got it—on the first try. Our message and story aren’t very straightforward. Her ability to understand our story and quickly translate it into creative was exactly what we were looking for. Rather than our story, our messaging, and our values just being more bullet points in a creative brief, she really understood them. Which, I think, made it easier for her to put a creative touch to the designs.

She came back to us with a first draft that we absolutely loved. We said, “Let’s go to print—we don’t need to see anything more.” Hands down, we knew we’d found someone we wanted to work with in the long term. The quality of the stuff she created, and the finished product itself, were very high. She also used sustainable materials and referred us to sustainable printers.

We’re extremely happy with the piece she produced and with the pieces she’s currently producing. This is not to say another designer couldn’t have done a good job, but Eryn and her team nailed it on the first go-round.

After working with Eryn, my perception of her hasn’t changed at all. Actually, it’s gotten better. I know what to expect. With Eryn, I don’t have to check in with her and say, ‘When does that have to be done?’ From the day we received her proposal, I knew how much time it would take. Now I just look at her online time and project board and see the status. It makes my life a lot easier.

THE RESULT
The print piece created tremendous brand awareness. Being able to give consumers memorable hard copies they could take and give to someone else was essential for our participation in events—we printed about 5,000 last year, distributed about 3,000 already, and plan to print more this year. Those are 3,000 potential customers who might not have heard of us otherwise.

We literally got comments from everyone who saw it. They loved it—the quality, the ink, the print, the creative design. I would show people our intro piece and they would ask me ‘Who did this?’ and ‘Can you put me in contact with this person?’ People saw it as a high-quality piece of material.

And it appealed to everyone—from consumers to CEOs of potential partner companies. It’s difficult to pull off, but that’s what makes a strong piece. A consumer wants to learn more about our brand and go to our website; and a CEO says, ‘These guys have dotted their I’s and crossed their T’s.’

Studio 22’s work has really enhanced our brand—both to the consumer and internally. Even though Eryn created something new, the piece looks like it’s truly part of the Naukabout brand. It resembles our website down to the branding guidelines, colors, and logos—so it makes our website itself look even stronger. Eryn’s work was well worth the price.

Not only would I recommend Eryn and Studio 22 to others, but I already have. We definitely consider Studio 22 a member of our team.