Flowerpot and a Barber Shop Make For a Wonderful Crew-ners

Date: Thursday, January 04, 2018

In the heart of downtown San Jose, CA is a barber shop called Crewners. Founded nearly a decade ago as a one-chair shop, it expanded to three chairs while using a unique retro feel with Frank Sinatra playing over the speakers and the Godfather movies on TV.

However, they had a problem: business was so good they were turning people away. A nice problem to have, but still a problem. To remedy it, this past fall they moved into a new shop with five chairs, and left behind the vintage feel in exchange for a sleek, upscale look more in line with their Silicon Valley clientele.

There for every step of the way has been Flowerpot Media -- managing their digital marketing and helping them grow.

The partnership began when Crewners was still in its nascent stage, and required a complete overhaul of the website and a consistent social media presence. Once the site was up and running and the social media voice was established, next came newsletters campaigns and targeted Facebook advertising. As word of mouth continued to build and Crewners needed to move into its bigger space with its upscale feel, Flowerpot ran a rebranding campaign to ensure a smooth transition, both in the shop's physical space and with its online marketing.

In our blog, we talk to Rick Garian, Business Development Director for Crewners, about the relationship between the two companies, and how Flowerpot's efforts helped grow Crewners into the premier barbershop in downtown San Jose:

How did the relationship between Flowerpot and Crewners begin?

Rick Garian: “Someone recommended Flowerpot to me. I talked to three different marketing companies and Laura Bakken (Flowerpot Media’s CEO) and I clicked, and that was the end of that.”

What set Flowerpot apart from the others?

RG: “Laura. She’s very professional, very knowledgeable and very personable. I liked everything her company offers, and she was the determining factor. Plus, her company was capable and did everything we needed done, so you add those two things together and that was it.”

What was Crewners’s digital strategy before Flowerpot came along?

RG: “Nothing. We had a website, but it wasn’t too professional. Crewners and social media weren't too synonymous with each other.”

What were Flowerpot’s initial strategy recommendations?

RG: “Not from the get-go, but they said that eventually we have got to re-work your website, which was an understatement. She was being considerate of our current marketing budget, and she then mapped out a strategy for exactly how we can reach tens of thousands of people and I liked what she said. Then she educated me about
the blogs and email campaigns and it all made sense to me. That’s why I moved forward.”

Early on, which initiatives were most successful?

RG: “That would be the newsletters and email campaigns, because they’re more immediate. I have a friend who runs the marketing department for a large Silicon Valley company with social media being a big hunk of it. She looked at our social media and our website after Flowerpot re-worked it and was highly impressed. As a matter of fact, she said it was unbelievable what Flowerpot Media was doing for us. She was highly complementary of the whole thing which really made me feel good because, as we say, she had no dog in the hunt.”

As a client, how did you feel about your communication with Flowerpot?

RG: “They’re very responsive, very transparent and always explained everything. When I started this, I couldn’t spell social media. You know how they have those books, like “Social Media for Dummies”? Flowerpot did that for me. They have never not performed when they said they would and always did what they said they were going to do.”

How did Flowerpot help with rebranding when Crewners moved into its new facility?

RG: “We had a conference call, and I gave my thoughts, and they came up with a wonderful strategy, and it has worked extremely well. It was quite a big jump, but it also wasn’t a big jump. It was a big jump because we went from Sinatra and having Godfather Movie Fridays to an upscale, contemporary shop. Our thinking was real simple: in San Jose, millennial software engineers are going to be 90% of who lives here. So we talked to people, and the whole idea of Sinatra, it was ‘yeah, that’s really nice’. Clearly it was time for a change.”

As a business in Silicon Valley, your online efforts might be judged more harshly. Do you feel Flowerpot is on the cutting edge of digital marketing?

RG: “Back in the day I used to run some hardware and software companies, and I have quite a few friends in the tech industry, like my friend who has a multimillion dollar budget and over 150 people in her department. She sang praises higher than I can possibly give because she knew what it was all about. Flowerpot just does a great job with their responsiveness, results, transparency, and their personality. I’m extremely happy and would recommend Flowerpot Media to anyone looking for social media presence and digital marketing. I have nothing but good things to say. They’re extremely easy to work with, professional, creative, knowledgeable, and I would highly recommend them.”

If you’re looking to upgrade your company’s digital marketing efforts and grow, Flowerpot offers a free marketing review. Contact us today to get started!

Tags: social media / Marketing / Small Business / Blog / Web Design / Product Marketing