The story
When I met Jan Bramley at a function it was a case of perfect timing – she was looking to launch her own business as a health practitioner and I was seeking clients who were a joy to work with.
As a solo Feldenkrais practitioner, Jan’s aspirations were to grow her client base in a small way and create a brand for her practice that both represented herself and educated Hawke’s Bay people on what The Feldenkrais Method® is all about.
The work
Through a couple of 1:1 brand development sessions, we uncovered Jan’s “why” – to help people move away from stress, anxiety and pain and into a more flexible, free, body and mind.
We worked hard on defining her target market, what their needs were and how her offering could relate to them. And while the holistic therapies space is hardly competitive – local therapists are more supportive of each other than in active ‘competition’ – it was still important to arrive at a look and feel that allowed Jan to express her own style and how she feels about her therapy.
One of the key parts to this process was also to arrive at a fitting name for the business. There was an immediate winner but our research helped Jan avoid a TradeMark catastrophe. After much brainstorming, creative refinement and ‘letting it sit’, Jan realised there was a much better name sitting in wait – Mind Body Connection.
The brand building
Mind Body Connection expresses succinctly what Jan’s application of The Feldenkrais Method® does – bringing the mind and body together to help people move away from pain, through a therapy which is as much about movement as it is the mind and how we approach how we move our body.
Once we knew how the brand could be expressed and Jan had done her vision board homework, I was able to help her build a logo design brief and connect Jan with local Hawke’s Bay graphic designer Tania from Electric Turtle Design. Tania set to work on some logo concepts for Jan, which then became the colourful and expressive logo design she has today – conveying the movement and connection involved in Jan’s therapy, and the unique bodies explaining that it is for all.
The following work on Jan’s promotion tools included drafting a flyer, developing business cards and getting Jan a digital presence, including setting up a brand-specific email address. Not feeling drawn to spending hours on social media, we flagged Facebook as an option and simply created a nice little Google My Business listing for Mind Body Connection and a free Google website to go with it.
The result
Aside from the initial time to get things set up right, Jan now has a flexible business and brand with minimal marketing overheads and ongoing costs. For businesses who rely more on reputation and word-of-mouth and who don’t require hundreds of new customers, a simple marketing mix like this one can prove to be more than enough.
All of this flowed at a natural pace and it was a joy to fit Jan out with a new brand and digital presence that she loves and can take anywhere.
For anyone who experiences pain and is looking to learn a modality that works alongside your existing therapies, head to the Mind Body Connection website and check it out. At time of publishing Jan has moved her business from Havelock North to Dunedin now and is enjoying offering 1:1 sessions and building her client base in the deep south.
– by Jodi