Turning everything red!
Brand
Graana.com
Category
#Strategy
#Marketing
#Advertising
Graana.com, Islamabad, Pakistan
One of the main reason i loved working for brand was its bright red colour #E32c2c. Its deliberately kept such a strong red to stand out from the average looking noise of the small real estate firms and with its strict design first approach, it allowed to create an experience for its consumers instead of just providing basic real estate services of buying renting and selling. Also in the digital world, consumer attention span was reducing significantly and just to standout of the endrless scroll red colour of the brand played a huge role in helping us generate almost 2 X more impressions compared to our competitors.
Phase 1
Graana’s 1st big campaign was it nationwide launch on several online and offline channels. at this point graana had laready expanded to 15+ cities all across pakistan and had its HQs is 3 major city of pakistan. And the combined human resource had reached a sum of 2000+.
The TVC along with other campaigns was launch on 1st of Feb 2021. But the planning and execution part was a journey was 6 months of planning and executing tasks
Planning the whole thing.
At this time i was in a transitional role from a design team lead to a brand manager and i was taked to plan for the launch across multiple channels maximing brand equity and generate earned media. This required a lot of brain storming sessions, some over the top ideas on how to go about the execution.
In the 1st phase the whole planning part we came up with a 22 channels Framework. This framework mainly highlighted all the different online and offline channels across which the marketing efforts could be made, in other words it was a slightly altered form of media mix to cater to our companies work flows. All the channels along with their short decriptions can be found in the picture below.
After the chanells were identified we did our market research across these channels in terms of their cost, which type of our target audience they were catering to, and how we could maximise the ROI on these.
in the last part of of our phase 1
after we were done with our research we allocated a total of _————- across these channels, made operational plans for all the teams as we were doing almost 90% of the things in-house.
22 Heads
TVC was a huge and major head cost of the launch that involved getting expensive talent onboard which resonated with our audience. and for the distribution, media buying was also the most expensive. 40% of our total budget went towards the prduction of the TVC and media buying for its ditribution. Moving on the next few major heads were OOH, which included media buying for billboard spaces across all the major cities where we offering our services and then came
Print, which includes newspaper ads, magazine ads and. print material such as brochures, leaflets and banners..
Preparation
The Design System
In the initial five months, I collaborated closely with a team of designers and group directors to develop brand design systems. While the brand already had branding guidelines in place, there was a need for a more comprehensive system to effectively design for various channels and campaigns. I created templates for blogs, "Buy, Rent, Sell, Invest" campaigns, and standardized sizes for social media usage. Additionally, I contributed to designing new materials for upcoming campaigns.
During this period, our strategy aimed to maximize the number of posts and create a distinctive presence in the digital landscape. Some may argue that excessive posting could potentially harm the brand's image, but it was effective for us. In 2019, we posted up to eight times a day across four different channels. By the end of 2022, this number had grown to an impressive 20 posts daily across seven different channels for each brand. It's worth noting that the group comprised a total of 17 brands, resulting in the creation and dissemination of a remarkable 180 unique designs every day.
Oct 2019 - Jun 2020
Role
Design Team Lead
Standardisation and Monitoring
In October 2019, I was promoted to the role of Design Team Lead for the brand. In this capacity, my responsibilities expanded significantly. I began working on key visuals for new campaigns and took on the crucial task of ensuring brand consistency across multiple touchpoints. I managed a team of approximately 10 individuals, which involved providing design feedback and collaborating cross-functionally with the sales team to develop supporting print materials.
During this period, I also ventured into the realm of digital marketing. I worked closely with the performance marketing teams to create ad creatives aimed at maximizing returns. Standardization and monitoring became central to my job description, encompassing tasks such as reviewing the work of all designers and ensuring that all published designs met our high standards.
July 2020 - Apr 2021
Role
Brand Manager/Creative Director
Planning, Coordination, Execution
From July 2020 to April 2021, my role evolved into that of a Brand Manager and Creative Director. During this period, my job description encompassed several critical responsibilities. I led and managed a multifaceted team comprising designers, copywriters, and production artists, with the primary goal of ensuring the punctual and high-quality delivery of creative assets.
In this capacity, I also took charge of directing various production activities, including photoshoots and video shoots, to maintain consistent branding and messaging across all channels. This involved overseeing every aspect of the production process to guarantee that it aligned seamlessly with our brand identity.
Furthermore, I assumed the crucial role of reviewing and approving all creative materials generated by the team. This included providing constructive feedback and guidance to team members when necessary, ensuring that our creative output consistently met the brand's high standards and conveyed the desired messaging effectively.
May 2021 - Aug 2022
Role
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Manager
Planning, Coordination, Execution
From May 2021 to August 2022, I assumed the role of Integrated Marketing Communications Manager, a pivotal position in the marketing landscape. My primary responsibilities involved meticulously planning and flawlessly executing integrated marketing campaigns for Graana, IMARAT, Agency21, PropSure and other associated projects and brands. To ensure the success of these campaigns, I managed a dynamic team comprising designers, content writers, community managers, animators, and content creators. My emphasis was on guaranteeing the timely and high-quality delivery of our marketing initiatives, a critical aspect of our strategy.
During this tenure, I had the privilege of spearheading the nationwide launch of Graana, a monumental achievement made possible through the implementation of a comprehensive and integrated marketing campaign. As part of this initiative, I took on the task of developing a robust design system for Graana's digital and offline assets. This design system played a pivotal role in maintaining brand consistency and coherence across all touchpoints, reinforcing our brand identity and message.
Moreover, I actively participated in multiple campaigns with the objective of cultivating brand equity and driving sales. These campaigns yielded substantial results, contributing significantly to our brand's awareness and customer acquisition efforts. My role also entailed close collaboration with the product team to enhance the user interface of Graana's mobile application. This collaborative effort resulted in heightened user engagement and improved retention rates, reflecting our commitment to delivering a seamless and user-friendly experience to our valued audience.
Aug 2022
Moved to UK for Masters