Island Stoneware

A new brand that positions a business for growth

Island Stoneware is an established small business and one of Canada’s last hand-crafted production pottery studios. With a shop in Summerside, PEI and a North American wholesale customer base they were significantly impacted by COVID-19. They quickly moved to an online Shopify e-commerce platform and gained direct customers throughout the pandemic lockdown.

The success of their online website gave Island Stoneware the confidence to review their brand and consider how it could facilitate further business growth. Working with a modest budget, I dug into customer research and consumer trends and identified the brand gaps and business opportunities. I guided Island Stoneware’s entrepreneurial owners through a branding process which resulted in a new brand story and creative platform. Tactics included brand guidelines for identity, signage, packaging, studio customer journey, and print and advertising marketing initiatives. I also developed an email and social media strategy for customer engagement and sale seasons. And most importantly a brand voice and product classification system that better aligned to their PEI roots and new brand. This language was then applied across all products, collections and glazes.

Island Stoneware’s brand and customized Shopify website was successfully launched. I was invited to remain as marketing consultant to develop their email customer platform, create and manage social media content, and continue to implement the creative platform on all marketing initiatives. The branding initiative has resulted in a renewed interest in Island Stoneware across North America, documented by a 45% gain in social media followers, a 14% increase of their email database, an email marketing open rate of over 40% and an online customer return rate of over 162%.

Island Stoneware now has a brand that is authentic to its Prince Edward Island roots and positions them for future growth across multiple marketing and communication channels.

project role: Client Manager, Creative Director, Creative & Brand Strategy, Content Creator (including writing, photography, animation and video development), Designer, Project Manager

Video & Animation