Circle of Friends

Branding their way into premier salons across the country

Growing fast and furious

Long before store shelves were jam-packed with children's bath and body products, Circle of Friends claimed the niche all their own. When LeeReedy first met the company, Circle of Friends resembled less of a perfect sphere and more of an amorphous shape. Their issue, as with so many start-up companies, was that they were understaffed — trying to do everything in-house and scrambling to keep up with demand.

That's not to say the company wasn't successful. Their products were on the shelves in Bath & Body Works and a handful of other retailers. The challenge for Denver's ad agency, LeeReedy, was to help them grow product distribution into new territory they'd been unable to penetrate: high-end salons.

Consulting on positioning

Because Circle of Friends occupied a space no other product did for child-specific bath and body care, they had difficulty defining and articulating their brand positioning. It wasn't a true problem until competitors began encroaching from all sides. Our first recommendation toward convincing salon owners to accept the line of products was to assist Circle of Friends in identifying and communicating their unique brand essence.

Each Circle of Friends product featured an illustrated child character from a certain country, along with some educational cultural information written in the character's "voice." The company wanted to give meaning to the concept and answer the question for consumers, "What's the connection between kids' grooming and diversity?"

Here's the one-liner we developed: Circle of Friends celebrates the squeaky-clean slate every child starts with. The line ties the products, which have to do with being clean and tidy and great smelling and pristine, with the emotional concept of how amazingly accepting children are of people who are different. Before the "dirt" of prejudice gets on us, we're perfectly happy to play with other kids who are different colors and have different clothing, who eat different foods and celebrate different holidays.

Refining the communications

Our next task, on our way to grooming Circle of Friends for salons, was to conduct a brand audit to understand what was worth retaining in their existing brand identity and how we could bring consistency to all the elements. The decision was made to develop a separate line of packaging for salons — cleaner, more refined and more appropriate for these high-end retail locations. Instead of an entirely new product launch, we found it to be more intelligent economically to repackage the existing product formulas in a fresh, new look.

A winning brand strategy

The salon owners that Circle of Friends met with saw in the children's bath and body products much of what they saw in themselves — a sophisticated, high-end company that would bring value to customers. The refined brand story and updated packaging paid off in a big way. Major salon chains accepted the products into their stores with open arms, unlocking an entirely new distribution channel and previously unrealized profits for the company.

We love taking great products, refining their branding and making them appeal to mass audiences — including retailers. Let's talk about doing it for you kreedy@leereedy.com.