Sparking Online Engagement: Helping A Local Designer Develop A Digital Strategy

Rekindle is a custom home décor brand from Chatham, Ontario that handcrafts unique items with a warm, timeless and minimalist aesthetic. Devin Schaffner, the Founder and Lead Designer at Rekindle, started the business to combine his profession as an industrial designer with his passion for environmental sustainability. Rekindle embodies Devin’s environmental mission of keeping items out of landfills by using only durable, locally sourced wood, offering items that support human connection and encouraging customers to personalize their orders. He believes that when his customers feel pride and a sense of personal connection to their custom items, they’re more likely to cherish them, care for them and keep them for a lifetime. Doing this ultimately counters objects being seen as consumables to be tossed in landfills, constantly being replaced with the next new thing. 

Coming into the Future Proof Program, Devin's challenge was getting his audience to see his vision and feel encouraged to reach out to customize the designs showcased on his website, Pinterest and Instagram pages. Luxury home décor brands are not often seen as personable and approachable and, based on the interactions, it seemed that many customers saw purchasing items as transactional rather than collaborative. Ultimately, Rekindle came to the Future Proof program with the hope of finding a strategy that would enable them to learn more about their customers and ensure they felt comfortable reaching out to have their ideas brought to life. 

Through the Future Proof program, the Transformation Team addressed these concerns through a revitalization of Rekindle’s website, social media posts, ads and email campaign strategy. They crafted templates to show how to make ads and social media posts more visually cohesive and align with the clean, minimalist aesthetic which was on brand. The Team also showed how to use Instagram highlights and stories to showcase as an artisan and engage followers through simple yet personable posts and initiatives.

On the website, they restructured the layout to ensure it contained a centralized customer support page that was visually engaging and easily accessible for website users. They also showed how to update his product description pages to streamline the user experience and make it easier for users to find the information they need. Additionally, they updated the copy on the website to better emphasize the brand’s focus on supporting customers.

Through the design of a 3-month email campaign strategy, Rekindle was introduced to how to target the needs and interests of their audience. The campaign focused on building trust, fostering interaction and providing value to email list subscribers by establishing themselves as a knowledgeable expert in the home décor space.

Most importantly, all of the useful information, recommendations and strategies presented were compiled into two guides – a Brand Style Guide and a Strategy Guide – so that Rekindle can continue to apply the strategies introduced to nurture customer relationships and craft meaningful experiences for audiences digitally.

He had this to say about working with a Transformation Team: “The Digital Main Street team has provided stellar support giving us a solid strategy to help us authentically present our brand. The service they have provided greatly surpassed my expectations and has elevated Rekindle's online presence with reaching our key supporters.”

Learn more about Rekindle sur ce site.

Our Digital Main Street innovation partner in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent region is WEtech Alliance. See how they can help.

Written by Giselle Tyrrell