case study
elevating brand identity and audience reach
Introduction
Crocodile River Music (CRM) is dedicated to bringing the music, art, and cultures of Africa to New England and beyond. By informing, connecting, and inspiring audiences, CRM plays a vital role in cultural education and community engagement. HBG Branding + Design has had the privilege of partnering with CRM to enhance its digital presence, streamline its marketing efforts, and create engaging content that resonates with its diverse audience.
Our collaboration with Crocodile River Music (CRM) spans over two years and continues to thrive. In the realm of Arts and Culture, we have been retained to execute a comprehensive project that includes a website redesign, development of marketing materials, creation of social media content, event promotion, and various design tasks. Our ongoing services ensure that CRM's digital and promotional needs are consistently met, enabling them to focus on their mission of bringing African music, art, and culture to New England and beyond.
Website Redesign
The primary goal of the website redesign was to simplify and stylize the site to be more consistent with the CRM brand. The previous website was clunky, not user-friendly, and challenging for the CRM team to update. Transitioning to Squarespace, we developed a new version of the site that is action-oriented, visually engaging, and easy to navigate.
Features and Functionalities
User-Friendly Navigation: Focused on user journeys to ensure easy access to booking information for schools and community organizations, and performance schedules for fans.
Integrated Social Media: Enhanced connection between social media posts and the website to drive traffic and engagement.
Consistent Branding: Simplified visuals aligned with the CRM brand for a cohesive look and feel.
3rd Party Integration: Integrated a user-friendly third-party donation platform to enhance donor contributions
Challenges
Simplification was the biggest challenge. We worked closely with the CRM team to map out user pathways and ensure a user-focused experience. Aligning the visuals with the brand while maintaining simplicity required careful consideration and iterative design.
Marketing Materials
We created a wide range of marketing materials, including brochures, business cards, envelopes, posters, capital campaign mailers, information cards, PowerPoint decks, t-shirts, flyers, digital newsletters, and social media graphics.
Design Approach
Our design approach focused on brand consistency and familiarity. We used a deep red and punchy yellow color palette and incorporated mud cloth textures to visually connect the brand to its West African roots. This approach provided a fun yet meaningful graphic element.
Impact
By making the information simple and approachable, we increased the functionality and effectiveness of all materials. A strong visual hierarchy made the materials easily identifiable and understandable by a broad audience, including young readers and non-native English speakers. Bold typography and high-quality photography further enhanced engagement.
Social Media Content
Content Created
We developed engaging graphics for Instagram and Facebook, focusing on:
Upcoming event promotion
CRM program promotion (e.g., "Heart of Africa" radio show on WICN)
Educational slideshows on traditional African instruments
Campaigns and Themes
Mali Fest Promotion: A cross-platform campaign that successfully boosted ticket sales.
Instrument Features: Informational posts on traditional instruments, well-received and widely shared by the audience.
Successful Posts
A mix of performance promotions and live videos of the band and dancers consistently connected with CRM’s audience. The marketing mix used for Mali Fest was particularly effective, achieving the desired ticket sales.