Foundationally, Shake Shack is made up of an excellent team. Its founder, Danny Meyer, is a thriving restauranteur who’s responsible for the success of some of the hottest restaurants in New York. Pat LaFrieda butchers blended the umami-rich mix of brisket, chuck, skirt steak, and short rib in each burger. And architect, James Wines is responsible for developing the original shack structure in Madison Square Park. 

The real question is, what of the casually catchy Shake Shack branding that has spread so seamlessly to cultures across the globe? The logo, signage, bags, and uniforms were all designed by Pentagram in a project led by principal graphic designer, Paula Scher.

Before Shake shack, Scher was already leading a pro bono redesign of Madison Square Park’s identity for the park’s Conservancy. Therefore, when the Conservancy decided to build a permanent burger stand on the public premises, it only made sense to have Scher on the project to ensure that the burger branding doesn’t become conflicting. Originally, Scher has picked up the Shake Shack project for free since it was an extension of the Conservancy project.

Shake Shack’s branding came from two sources of inspiration that evolved over time. The first one was the shack structure itself — a corrugated metal hut that would go on to earn James Wines a National Design Award for lifetime achievement in 2013. 

According to Scher, the original idea was that the shack would be part of an urban landscape in parks — and that’s how the first one was designed. Therefore, when the logo for Shake Shack was designed, it was really the architecture that drove the design.

In addition to that, the shack exuded a kind of approachable modernness, and Scher wanted a typeface to match — and she chose Neutra. To this day, metallic, Neutra lettering spells out Shake Shack in front of all their global stores.

Scher introduced a second wave of branding some time after the store had opened for business. This time it would be paid work.  It tapped the core idea behind Shake Shack itself — a ’50s burger joint reimagined for a modern context. So, for the text on menus and bags, Pentagram selected the curvaceous Galaxie Cassiopeia font, or what Scher lovingly calls “a phony neon script” that still felt modern enough to keep up with the logo. The typeface was paired with squiggly burger, shake, and fry icons that evoked classic signage. Even rendered in ink, you can almost see the 1950s neon shining through.

Although the branding was designed for the distinctiveness of Shake Shack’s original site, it has managed to scale to franchises placed in more typical storefront locations and even airports.

“I think the modernness of it is somehow perfect in keeping with the quality of the food. It’s a contemporary fast-food chain with a high-level product–as opposed to McDonald’s, which is also modelled after 1950s burger chains but serves downscale food,” Scher says. “In retrospect, if you’d done a million years of focus testing and consumer studies, you wouldn’t do a better job. It shows you the charm of the happenstance.”

When asked if it felt a bit strange to see pro bono work now define the face of a $1.6 billion public company, Scher admits that it is “a bit.”

“They offered me a stock purchase before the public offering,” she says. “And in fairness, no one had an idea of how successful it would become.”

The post Shake Shack’s Success Story – What’s in a Brand? appeared first on Flourish Asia.

To start, let’s clarify that social media marketing, social media advertising and social selling are all three very different and separate entities. If you haven’t heard of social selling nor incorporated it into your business, you’re missing out! But don’t worry, it’s never too late to start!

What is Social Selling?

You could be familiar or exposed to social media marketing more often than social selling, but how can you tell them both apart? Social selling is using social media to cultivate and connect with your sales prospects. Unlike social media marketing, social selling is more of a one-on-one relationship with your potential customers rather than a one-to-many type of broadcasting. It has become a social selling technique that replaced and ousted the old-school cold-calling method.

Social selling regularly takes place in social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook Business Page, Twitter and Pinterest. Social selling is also more of a salesperson thing than a marketing person thing.

When using the social selling technique, it requires building relationships with your potential clients and jumping in to provide solutions when it is the right time. It is not about broadcasting and bombarding your audience unnecessarily, aka spamming their feed. The approach is that you make yourself the solution. Imprint this in the minds of your prospects for future benefits.

Why Social Selling?

Unlike social media marketing and social media advertising, social selling does not require a lot of money- maybe even no money at all! Get an advocate to push the products, and you will be surprised at how much of a response it would rake in. You can even do it yourself if you want to promote or advocate your service or product. It requires little to no money spending when all you do is create an awareness of the brand.

When social selling technique is applied, it will somehow spark an interest in prospects who feel that they connect or possess a relationship with you.

For example, in light of the situation that the world is facing now- COVID-19- a lot of people resort to online shopping. Let’s say you have a product that could be useful and serviceable to specific prospects; social selling is the way to go. Post it up on your social media accounts and point out a few reasons why you’re using this plus benefits, and watch the response. The best part about this? You don’t need to spend any money for this advertisement.

Also, you’ll be getting repeating customers from these prospects. In a best-case scenario, these prospects love your products, and they would want to share it with their connections. There you go, more potential customers!

How do I start?

Be present

Yes, be there for your prospects! One thing you do not want to be is a robotic answering machine. There are tools out there that make your life easier, such as the automated response, but that makes you sound robotic and scripted. You want to be as personalised as possible to every prospect, so yes, reply to them personally!

Start building rapport and relationships when your prospects are the ones approaching you for more information. Be yourself and more human, so that your clients know you’re sincere and approachable.

Provide value

You want to provide value and insight when interacting with your prospects at the right time. Providing information that does not interest or feel relatable to your prospect will come off as being “pushy” and “pitchy”. You don’t want that.

You want to be the solution provider for your prospects and offer valuable information to them instead. Throw in your comment, suggestion or advice for an added personal value with your prospect. Find ways to establish relationships with each prospect because these prospects are not just your clients, but also your friends. You’d know them personally and what works with them.

A great salesperson is all about building relationships and credibility while providing the right solutions to the right people. An even better salesperson will follow up on and stay connected with their clients. Social selling does not hinder that in fact, it makes it easier to do all these. Cold calling is no longer relevant when you’ve developed social selling skills, all you need is your social media platforms and share away!

The post Is Social Selling The Same As Social Media Marketing? appeared first on Flourish Asia.

Here we have a few reasons why we think working from home is the best.

Employees are more productive at home

Yes, it may be true that people who work from home take more prolonged or more breaks on average, but you’d be surprised that they also remain productive for an additional 10-15 minutes per day. According to the Airtasker study, telecommuters “worked 1.4 more days every month or 16.8 more days every year” than people who worked in an office. Some may think that taking longer breaks are a waste of time and reduces productivity time, but the opposite of that seems to be the truth. While taking longer breaks may seem like a chunk of the day is wasted, employees who work from home do compensate for the break times they’ve taken. Hence, the additional 10-15 minutes of work time is added daily.

Better health and well-being

Oftentimes, employees dread going to work because of the commute. It can be dreadful and tiresome to caught in a traffic jam while commuting to and from your workplace. Just the thought of having to wake up extra early to avoid traffic and being in the traffic after a long day at work is just ugh! After a long day at work, all you want to do is just get home, eat dinner, and do the things you want to do. Imagine all the time spent being stuck in traffic! 

With the flexibility of working from home, employees do not have to fret or be stressed out thinking of getting to work late and going home late. A lot of employees would be willing to give up a lot of things to end the commute to work.

How does working from home bring better health and well-being to employees? 

For starters, those who have a family get to spend more time with their kids and spouses. More quality time is spent with the family- the average 30 minutes of commute a day can be spent with the family instead. 

With the idea of not having to wake up extra early to avoid traffic just to get to work on time, people who work from home now have the time to exercise or meditate before or after work. Releasing endorphins is essential to start your day and might even make you more productive throughout the day!

Cost-saving

Employers, hear us out. Allowing your employees to work from home is a win-win situation for both you and your employees. You won’t need to spend an extra monthly cost for an office. No need to pay monthly rental, electricity bills, internet bill, and for some, travel allowances for your employees who commute. This way, your employees get to save on spending on fuel and have more free time while you get to save on monthly expenses.

So think about it. Both parties get to enjoy a healthy work-life balance while being super productive. The more productive you are, the more hustle and money you make.

The post Why working from home is ideal appeared first on Flourish Asia.

Be a social media manager for small businesses.

If you know how to use social media, this is going to be a breeze for you. A lot of businesses do not have the time to manage their social media accounts. And we all know how important it is for a business or company to have social media existence. Reach out to local restaurants, clothing brands, or any local businesses around you and offer to help them with their social media management. Charge them a contracted monthly fee, and you got yourself a monthly side income!

Start blogging!

Do you have a passion for a specific topic or interest? Turn that passion into a money-making enthusiasm! It may not be an instant and enormous amount, it’s easy, especially when you’re good at what you’re blogging about. When you start to gain traffic to your blog, you can start earning money! All you need to do is spend a few hours a week, but stay consistent and your content should be interesting and engaging to your readers.

Sell online!

Is your wardrobe running out of space? If it’s filled with clothes you haven’t been wearing, make money out of them! Spend a weekend spring cleaning your wardrobe and filter your old clothes out. Here’s a trick how to detach yourself from your clothes (we know we are somewhat a tiny bit of a hoarder sometimes). If you haven’t worn a clothing piece in the past six to eight months, it means you’re not going to wear it again. Sort them out and put them out to sell. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! So, start selling your old clothes, or any item you don’t need and start making moolah! 

Start your own side business.

There are plenty of part-time businesses that you can partake on. 

If you have a skill in making crafts, you can start your own crafting business by taking orders from friends and family. If baking is your calling, turn that skill into a money-making business. All you need is to get your feet wet and it might take a little time to kickstart, but at least get a headstart and start somewhere first. No skill or talent should be left undiscovered and unutilised. Who knows, you might even like your side business more than your full-time job! Some people have ditched their full-time job to focus on their side hustle entirely because it’s their passion and the earnings are more promising!

The post Side Hustle for some extra moolah appeared first on Flourish Asia.

Name

Look, girls, we’re no longer living in the 2000s MSN era where the fancier and more complicated your name is, the cooler you are. No, no, no. We’re professionals, and we are not teenagers, so let’s ditch the whole fancy name spelling and adhere to proper spelling and grammar. If your name is Katie, go with Katie, not KaTiEee, KayHtEeEzz, or Ietak (Katie spelt backwards). Include your last name as well, so you appear to have more credibility.

Profile Picture

We know you love your dog, cat, hamster, piglet etc. but, come on girls, you’re not your pet. Upload a picture of yourself when it comes to your profile picture. Also, when we say a picture of yourself, we don’t mean artistic photos that don’t even show half your face! While we do appreciate the creative and aesthetic side of you, let’s keep that skill for later. A good profile picture is one that is by yourself (not a group photo) that has a clear view of your face, in a decent pose and dressed appropriately.

Cover Photo

If you’re familiar with Facebook, you’ll know what a cover photo is. Cover Photo is a banner-sized photo that you upload across the top of your Facebook account. A good cover photo would be a motivational quote that you like or live by. It can also be a video that is inspiring or related to your business. A good cover photo or video makes you look credible and professional, so don’t be tempted to put something irrelevant and try not to leave it on its default cover photo.

Your Bio

Here’s where you shine and grab the attention of those who landed on your social media. However, you don’t want to get too carried away and start writing your whole life story on your bio- not like there is enough character limit for you to neither. Think of it as something you’d pitch to someone if you were only given 15 seconds or less- like an elevator pitch!

Make it clear and direct what you do or what your business is. On Instagram, you can even add a link to your website, your hashtag, and also your other Instagram account- in this case, perhaps your business IG profile.

Make the best out of that limited character count and be creative about it!

If you need more help and guidance on how to build that professional and efficient social media profile, reach out to us! We have the most experience and social media knowledge to share with you!

The post How to have a great social media profile? Personal Branding Tips appeared first on Flourish Asia.