Brand tagline: strategic Marketing example No. 1 with... Kymono
Updated: May 2, 2021
The first time I heard of the B2B start-up Kymono, was in 2020 in my favorite podcast. Curious, I had a look at the website... where I discovered their catchy brand tagline. I immediately liked it. Later, I found out that not only the wording was appealing, but that the company really concretized the brand tagline in all that was done, and in a quite smart and simple way that you can learn from for your B2B brand. I show you how.
Greet the brand: Kymono!
Date of birth: founded in 2017.
Place of birth: France, with activities in France, the UK, Germany, and Spain.
Profession: creator and producer of branded outfits.
Distinguishing feature: the start-up went through The Family's entrepreneurship program.
Focus on... its brand tagline
The brand tagline of the Kymono start-up fits on one simple strong sentence:
"We are culture designers."
As a part of the differentiation strategy. the brand tagline of Kymonoand clarifies the brand's positioning and sets the tone of the start-up.
The tagline is visible prominently and permanently everywhere: on the website of the brand, on almost each of the posts on Social Media, etc.
But the brand tagline of Kymono won't be anything if the rest of the Marketing wouldn't confirm and develop it. If you look at the Marketing of the start-up, it becomes clear that the tagline encapsulates the Marketing strategy, which directly impacts the main Marketing activities of Kymono.
How Marketing brings the brand tagline to life
In my research, I identified three areas where Kymono transports well or very well this brand tagline: the team literally designs the brand territory with the customer, uses stylish pop communications and has (and promotes) a strong internal culture.
1 > More than a provider: a co-builder with the customer
Kymono's brand positioning is to be more than a B2B provider: a proactive supporter of the brand building of the customer. This brand differentiation with an orientation toward service and added value is quite natural in a competitive environment where most of the businesses providing branded outfits have a very pragmatic approach to the job (blankly said: printing a logo on a sweatshirt). By actively suggesting recommendations to the customer, instead of simply executing the requested task, Kymono really acts as a creator: the start-up makes the brand of the customer more consistent, and therefore participates in the culture building of the client. Around 20% of the recommendations suggested are followed by the customer, signal of an unhidden need.
This co-construction takes several ways:
They have their own creative studio and several designers in the team.
They not only create and produce branded clothes, but they transport the branding in offices too, like with the other start-up, PayPlug.
Their goal is to provide an excellent customer journey, with a focus on understanding the brand personnaility of their customer to identify the product that fits the best.
They propose a live creation in their showrooms of Paris, Berlin, and London.
2> Designer of viral pop communications
A strong brand usually has a specific, and therefore recognizable, way of communicating that fits its NDA. As Kymono considers itself as a "culture designer", the communication aspects are even more interesting to look at, in my opinion: communication styles develop mini cultures. They design small worlds around words and visuals, with a specific tone of voice very near to some that can be found in a B2C environment: joyful, viral, pop. This definitively matches the spirit of the start-ups (their main customers at 60%), but also goes quite well with the brand tagline of "culture designers".
How they do it? Here are some tactics:
They communicate big to be heard: for example, they rent a plane for their launch night whose theme was "take-off"... of course.
They are looking at creating moments that go viral, like when at the very beginning they gave some branded outfits to big companies and organized photo-shootings with the CEOs wearing the Kymono clothes.
They focus on style in their Marketing videos, with a strong pop tonality:
For example in a post on Linkedin:
Or within a Marketing campaign:
3> The promotion of a strong internal culture
The teams at Kymono live what they sell: a strong internal culture. I really like this because we see too many brand strategies that are designed for the customers only and stop abruptly at the door of the office as if both worlds would be completely isolated, what it shouldn't be. In the case of Kymono, not only do the teams live and build their company culture but they also promote it actively, especially on Social Media. For a business that relies on Customer centricity and branding, this Marketing approach makes total sense.
In the facts:
They constantly use pictures of their teams on their digital communications, no matter if it is on the website or Social Media.
They (sometimes) publish content regarding workplace culture, for example: "How to build a company culture: advice for startups from culture designers Kymono"
They promote their brand values visibly on the website and dedicated Social Media posts:
The teams are the best advertising for Kymono. They are teams who speak to teams eager to build a stronger company culture.
If I would be the CMO: I would push this promising approach even more, especially by creating more content about company culture and employer branding, and by co-organizing events around these topics. As the subject is still relatively new, companies need education and partners to talk to.
A successful brand strategy for Kymono
The overall strategy of the start-up, including its brand tagline, seems fruitful:
1.700 customers for 2.500 teams dressed.
Among their customers, we find Airbnb, Alan, Zenly, Google, L'Oréal, and LVMH.
Presence in several European markets: France, the UK, Germany, Spain, etc.
The brand tagline and Marketing strategies of Kymono: summary
The brand tagline of the start-up is definitively more than just words: it is a real belief that leads the teams in their daily work.
References
"How to build a company culture: advice for startups from culture designers Kymono"
"How to design your culture" by Oliver Ramel, co-founder & CEO at Kymono
"Launching Kymono: Culture designer & startup outfitter" about the launch in Germany
1 day / 1 start-up about Kymono (in French)
"The secrets of Kymono, the culture designer for start-up" (in French)
"Kymono presents its last advertising campaign" (in French)
"Kymono, one night to take off" (in French)
"How to find the first customers" (in French)
Copyright pictures: Kymono