Visual identity, product and digital strategy for one of Edinburgh’s best-loved businesses
The Feather Company are a specialist manufacturer of luxury feather and down bedding. Collaborating for around two years, we helped them evolve their existing brand, bringing their niche products to life and launching a new, full-service eCommerce website. By identifying and celebrating the core principles inherent within the business, we have introduced a premium visual language to work alongside a refined product portfolio, increasing brand loyalty and driving +300% on sales.
Client
Type of work
Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Print Design, Digital Design, Content Creation
Sector
Manufacturing and Industrial, Retail
Location
Edinburgh, UK
A refreshed brand identity system
Working closely with the manufacturing team, we designed a new identity system that focused on the products themselves. By stripping everything back, we communicated the messages at the heart of the brand; the products are hand-made using generations of experience, the materials are rigorously selected from responsible, cruelty-free supply chains, and that the business is entirely family-owned. These three principles quickly became the backbone of our approach.
The visual identity took the form of two distinct brand marks, namely ‘The Feather Company’ wordmark and the ‘TF’ symbol. These assets work interchangeably across a variety of applications, helping the brand feel considered in every setting. Restrained use of colour also helps to champion the products, pushing the attention back onto the materials and craftsmanship. We then used our newly defined brand proposition to establish a set of essential customer journeys, which plotted each step in the consumer and B2B buying process. From here, we were able to identify and design each touchpoint — from initial website discovery to product portfolio, photography, packaging and other printed materials such as receipts, returns, labels and swing tags.
To further reinforce product quality, we employed premium print techniques alongside sustainable paper stocks. These principles helped to elevate the products and the brand, bringing with it increased loyalty and sales.
Moving the business online
As part of the brand positioning process, we quickly discovered that The Feather Company would benefit by making their products more accessible for customers to access. With thousands of customers already ordering regularly, the task was two-fold; firstly, to streamline the buying process and secondly to attract and service new customers.
Our solution was to build an international eCommerce website with an integrated CRM and stock management system. These immediately helped relieve pressure on the brand and manufacturing teams, allowing both to focus on new product development. With improved stock and material management systems, the new website also helped reduce waste, saving time, money and material. The website itself comprises three main sections; company heritage, products and services.
To help new customers find the products, we also conducted an extensive search engine optimisation (SEO) programme. The SEO strategy resulted in most of the products being shown on page one of Google, competing with major national and international producers such as John Lewis and Dunelm. We also worked closely with the brand team to develop critical social media channels, using targeted ads to help further drive sales.
Key features
The Feather Company website has a number of key features, all of which work together to deliver a simple yet elegant experience. These include a flexible, responsive design, optimised eCommerce functionality for selling internationally and hugely improvements to how stock was managed.
Flexible, responsive design
Running on a flexible grid, the site is designed to work across all devices and screens with a particular focus on mobile use.
Optimised eCommerce
With ecommerce systems built into the website core, we’re able to link products with google, instagram and other sale vendors.
Faster stock handling
We introduced a simpler, dedicated stock handling system to help manage orders, improving productivity and product turnaround.
Driving sustainable success
After more than two years of iterative design development, we are incredibly proud of our work with The Feather Company. With gains in almost every metric, our continued partnership has resulted in a +300% increase in sales, increased customer loyalty and positive feedback from customers. By making consumers lives more accessible, we removed many barriers to purchase and have subsequently seen a trend towards higher-priced items.
As part of our brand consultancy work, we also advised The Feather Company on many areas of sustainability. As a result, we have removed a substantial amount of plastic from the packaging supply chain while adopting biodegradable materials like hessian and cardboard.
'I approached LBD Studio around 18 months ago as our website was in desperate need of updating, having not been touched for over ten years. Liam took us through the options and recommended a deeper 're-brand' to help us reposition and bring some consistency to our materials and packaging. This was then quickly undertaken and we are very happy with the result. Liam and his team were hands on and keen to find out how each product is made and manufactured. This uncovered three key USPs which helped us stand out from other suppliers: "Hand-made, Family-owned, Cruelty Free". These have been a great tool to focus ourselves and bring clarity to the product range, and have been used throughout our new website and supporting materials. We wanted the site to be very simple and easy to navigate and I feel the team have achieved this for us. Our website and revitalised brand have been very well received with our customers and they act as a showcase for our business to potential wholesale clients. We have noticed an increase in sales, especially with our higher-priced down-filled products.'
Gareth Monro
Managing Director, The Feather Company
