Branding 101: The coldest Cocktail Brand In Lagos
When you're starting a brand, everyone in marketing and branding stresses the importance of building a strong brand image or identity. However, they often fail to provide concrete examples. Instead, they tend to reference well-established global brands, which can be difficult for new businesses to relate to.
“In this series, I'll showcase small and medium-sized brands that have successfully established unique brand identities. Today, I'm featuring Quacktails, a Nigerian cocktail brand known as the coolest cocktail brand in Lagos.”
brand overview
Quacktails is a Nigerian cocktail service known for their drinks, which come in Caprisun-like pouches. They've successfully won over people's hearts with their innovative menu and playful brand personality.
Name
Let's start with their name, do you already feel how cheeky and fun they are? Like cocktails... quacktails... get it? It instantly conveys what they do.
On “I Said What I Said” podcast, the founder explained that they adopted the name “cocktails” because they weren’t exactly certified mixologists and their signature “cocktails” came in pouches instead of fancy glasses.
Logo
Their logo—a duck holding a martini glass against a yellow backdrop—perfectly complements their name. It's also super clever, as ducks make the sound “quark.”
Overall, it is unique, eye-catching, unforgettable, and perfectly captures their brand essence.
Quarktails Logo
Pro Tip
When customers can easily remember your brand name or logo, they are more likely to consider your products or services when making a purchase decision.
Additionally, a memorable logo can help to differentiate you from your competitors.
Social media
Quacktails' personality on social media is fun, relatable, and quirky. It features various renditions of their iconic duck, each conveying a different message: a green one for Scoliosis Awareness Month, a sleeping one during breaks, and even a cupid duck for Valentine's Day.
However, Quarktail’s social media isn't all just fun; it's functional. They've pinned an FAQ detailing pricing, delivery information, and operating hours. Customers can easily find this information, making the ordering process hassle-free.
Quarktail’s Instagram Feed
Pro Tip
Let your social media tell your brand's unique story. It shouldn't be all trends.
Your social media should also be a quick way for your customers to find FAQs about your brand. Make it easy for them to get the information they need.
Events
Quacktails' branding at events is always unique and eye-catching. From their founder and staff's quirky jumpsuits to their yellow rubber duck, the brand is instantly recognisable. Their stands are always interesting and inviting, no matter the occasion, whether it's a 50th birthday party, a wedding, or a pop-up.
Here is their stand at Homecoming Festival 2023. The stand perfectly showcases their brand and is sure to intrigue potential customers.
Pro Tip
Having an inviting stand at events or pop-ups is a great way to attract new customers and increase brand awareness.
Collaborations
Quacktails collaborates with brands that share the same values as them: “Nigerian-made brands with global quality, quirky personalities, targeted at younger people”.
A notable example is their collaboration with Anoela Cards. They have a card collection with them. Anoela Cards is a Nigerian-made greeting card brand known for its high-quality cards. They're also fun, youthful, and quirky, so the collaboration seems authentic. It's also a symbiotic collaboration where both brands can benefit from each other's audiences. For instance, if I want to gift a friend drinks for their birthday, why not pop in a card, or vice versa?
Other collaborations they've done include a collection with Waffle and Cream, whose target audience consists of young, hip, creative Nigerians, and a collaboration with “This is Us for their staff jumpsuits. This is Us, just like Quacktails, is committed to sourcing and manufacturing locally in Nigeria.
Packaging/Experience
Quarktails come in cute, little, customizable pouches similar to the Capri Sun pouches we all loved as kids. I think this is a key part of their product experience. It’s easy to move around with, and Nigerians love to drink and dance at parties. With these pouches, you can easily do that without worrying about spilling your drinks. They’re also much easier to carry around than red cups or cocktail glasses.
The innovative packaging isn’t just limited to their drinks. Even their merchandise arrives in unexpected packaging. I recently bought their merch, and it came in a pizza box! It was very creative and memorable, and it’s also a good conversation starter. Imagine picking up your friend and seeing a pizza box in the car. She hops in and says, “Oh, pizza!” You wait for her to open it, and she sees a t-shirt inside. She’d probably ask, “Oh, where’s this from?” And that’s an opportunity for you, the customer, to talk about the brand.
Pro Tip: Great packaging can be a powerful tool for customers to sell your brand to others, as it does the talking for you.
Key takeaways
Have a good brand image, symbol, or logo. It could be a mascot, a distinct colour, etc.
Let your social media tell your brand's unique story. It shouldn’t be all trends.
Your social media should also be a quick way for your customers to find FAQs about your brand. Make it easy for them to get the information they need.
Invest in unique and functional packaging if you can. It should be part of the shopping experience. Even if it's a plastic bag or delivery bag, write some good copy on it. Go crazy! Be unique! (in Beyoncé's voice)
Collaborate with brands that have similar values to yours. This can be mutually beneficial and show your customers that you really stand by your values.
Meet your customers where they are: Include events and pop-ups in your brand awareness plan.
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