Creating a visual identity
Rebranding Equinox’s Instagram
If cohesiveness and ownability rule on social, how do we create them using content we already have?
Gone are the days of Instagram being a collection of aesthetically pleasing images. At this point, we all know that it’s a crucial marketing channel, with endless opportunity for growth. My team at Equinox, the luxury fitness company, wanted to capitalize on that potential while teasing the many exciting changes we had in the works. The problem? Our voice was cold and robotic, and our outdated look wasn’t doing us any favors, or reflecting the elevated nature of the brand.
To solve this without completely reshooting, well, everything, we created a toolkit of visual effects that could be applied to exiting assets. Our frameworks established a stronger brand aesthetic and ensured consistency no matter the content and–most importantly–looked cool.
⬅️ before
⬅️ before
⬅️ after
⬅️ after
Luxury fitness looking its finest
I partnered with Sarah Tamani as well as internal art directors, designers, and the social team to visualize what could be, and then make it happen. I organized and led brainstorms, pulled swipe, provided art and creative direction, and spearheaded the successful effort to sell it in to the C-suite. I learned to speak up, direct a team, and manage difficult personalities.
before ➡️
before ➡️
after ➡️
after ➡️
Elevated aesthetic, elevated love
When the toolkit went into effect, the results were immediate. The likes, shares, comments, and follows on Instagram kept on coming. After just two months (February - April 2020), @equinox gained 50K followers and generated 40MM impressions with an organic reach of 23MM. In all of 2019, Equinox had 43K net new followers—so it looks like the makeover was a success.
TLDR
I led the effort to rebrand Equinox’s Instagram by developing a toolkit that would make any content consistently cohesive and ownable.
Branding Social Strategy C-suite presentation