umano & Instagram

umano, an Athens-based clothing company, is slowly but surely taking Instagram by storm. With just over 5,000 followers, they have been able to successfully promote their small clothing company not only in the Athens area, but throughout the country. umano was founded by two brothers who just so happen to have graduated from Terry. Their strong family bond is key to the identity of the brand as Alex and Jonathan work together to make the majority of the business decisions.

The company has taken on a similar business model as Toms. But, instead of donating a pair of shoes to those in need, umano donates a backpack full of school supplies to children in need throughout the world. Not only are children a key focus for their give-back initiatives, but all of the artwork on their t-shirts are created by kid artists. One can only imagine the amount of positive impact that is made in a child’s life when their artwork is featured on a brands clothing line. It truly is incredible. Instagram has been a key social media tool to promote the new artwork that will be featured in the latest clothing line.

While the artwork on their clothing can be a tad bit outrageous at times, umano sticks to a strict color scheme of white, black, and grey. While many might find this restrictive, the company believes that their colors will always be in style, no matter what trends are happening. umano’s Instagram page illustrates this concept exceptionally well with their strategically placed promotional posts.

While umano is a growing company, it is still very much an intimate company with employees that work closely together to create the masterpieces by hand. umano has used Instagram in an ingenious way to showcase just how closely the employees are involved in the production process of their clothing line. From screen printing to hand-selecting the artwork, it is easy to see how umano has made such an exceptional name for itself.

KJP & Tumblr

 Kiel James Patrick’s Tumblr, Azimuth Circle, offers an “unabridged, photographic tale & life of New Englanders Kiel James Patrick and Sarah Vickers.” Continuing with the same marketing approach as their Instagram page, KJP does not seem to primarily promote their products on their Tumblr blog. While they do have the occasional direct product promotion, they typically showcase “lifestyle” imagery designed to make one live vicariously through Kiel and Sarah’s photographs.  KJP fundamentally promotes a Northern, preppy lifestyle. Through this mantra, they make sure to reblog images pertaining to this ideal – like images of John F. Kennedy.

While most brands would shy away from boosting other company’s products on their social media outlets, KJP does not appear to feel the same way. In keeping with their philosophy of promoting a preppy lifestyle, they have reblogged images that directly promote other brands - such as Patagonia, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent. In doing so, they demonstrate that their brand is of the same caliber and quality.

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While Sarah Vickers does not have a Tumblr, KJP makes sure to reblog from her personal blog. The majority of their direct product promotion originates from posts that Sarah has made on her own blog. In reblogging these posts, consumers are able to get more of a complete understanding of everything that KJP stands for and what their company’s purpose is. Sarah Vickers is a huge part of the KJP brand. Without her blog posts on KJP’s Tumblr, followers would miss a tremendous part of what the brand is as a whole.

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KJP & Instagram

Today’s post starts a three post series diving into how Kiel James Patrick has revolutionized the idea of social media marketing through three different outlets – Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. KJP is best known for its bracelets although they do make and sell a wide variety of other products, including pearls, jewelry, boat shoes, apparel and other accessories.

I first became intrigued with the brand when I came across a short, stop action video (https://www.instagram.com/p/BCy1rloLcuh/?taken-by=kjp) of Kiel organizing his immense closet when I was browsing through the discover feature on Instagram. Since that fateful day back in 2014, I have been a follower ever since and have even broadened my following horizon to include Tumblr and Snapchat. I could probably write 20 different blog posts about this brand and the picture perfect life it conjures for its consumers, but I’ll try to keep my gushing to a minimum.

With over 490K followers on Instagram and almost 6,000 posts, it is safe to say that KJP has really established itself in the Instagram community. Unlike most jewelry and apparel brands, they keep their direct product promotion to a minimum. Instead, they typically post pictures of Kiel and Sarah (his wife) living their daily, picturesque lives with a few products strategically placed. They have done an incredible job of really capitalizing on the idea of selling an experience, rather than a product.

From posting pictures of their newest family member – a Golden Retriever puppy named Bennie – to having bonfire nights in front of mansions with their friends, KJP and company have forever altered the standards to which companies should connect with their fans and consumers on social media. 

Chaco Footwear & Instagram

Chaco is somewhat unique in the way they present their products on social media. While most footwear companies would display a glamourous stock photo of their merchandise, Chaco shows real pictures of their actual consumers to demonstrate just how versatile their products are. From traveling in airports to hiking up mountains, Chaco makes it clear that their products will be comfortable and durable through anything life throws one’s way. Their sandals are actually shown dirty and muddy on this Instagram page in an effort to illustrate how beneficial and functional their products can be for their consumers when embarking on all their wild and crazy adventures.

While Chaco is known primarily for their footwear, they have also begun to showcase their new Wrist Wraps on their Instagram page. Made out of the same material as the straps on their sandals, these stylish bracelets allow one to stand out from the crowd with their unique designs.

With over 187K followers and 1,750 posts, @chacofootwear has done quite an exceptional job of establishing itself on Instagram. By following the tag #ChacoLife and #ChacoNation, they have opened up a conversation with their client base to grasp what great feats they have been able to accomplish in life with Chacos on their feet. In fact, many of their Instagram pictures are provided curtesy of their followers who have tagged them in their original Instagram posts.