Upgrade Your Brand Partnership Strategy Like Joey Mattress 😎 (Part 3)
IT’S FINALLY HERE! 🤩
You requested it; so we wrote it. This is our third and final Joey Mattress article!
For context, read parts One and Two here. 👈
Quick recap – Joey Mattress started a movement for their 2nd birthday aimed at:
- Spurring local businesses to support each other during the pandemic. 🦠
- Providing better sleep to all Malaysians. 🛌
In this final part, we interviewed 4 partner brands on their brand partnership experience with Joey Mattress.
These 4 brands are: Salang Design 👕, Lilin+Co 🕯️, Perfectly Tea ☕ and Goodpair Socks. 🧦
We’ll start with Salang Design first.
- Salang Design
- Lilin+Co
- Goodpair Socks
- Perfectly Tea
We had an amazing chat with all 3 founders of Salang Design: Jiun Pheng, Deryin and Wilden.
‘Salang’. It sounds like a Korean word, right? 🇰🇷 (Sarangheyo!) But according to Jiun Pheng, Deryin and Wilden, it’s actually not Korean. 🙅♀️
In fact, it’s a word from the Hokkien/Teochew dialect which means “three people”. 👨👩👦
So, who is Salang Design? They’re a brand that creates embroidery patches centred around Malaysian culture. 🇲🇾
They use embroidery patches to create tangible products for their customers to use them in their daily lives.
How Does This Brand Partnership Add Value To Salang Design’s Target Audience?
For this brand partnership, Jiun Pheng, Deryin and Wilden designed a pair of new clothes for Joey Mattress’ campaign. 👕
It’s an Embroidery Tee-Shirt, made from interlock cotton. The t-shirt is made from breathable material, perfect for our Malaysian weather. ☀️
So, we asked all 3 founders what value their product provides to their customers.
As a lifestyle brand, they replied, they wanted their products to reflect people’s daily lives/memories. 💎
If our product makes you remember a certain moment in life, then that’s the value we bring to you, they commented. 🙂
This Embroidery Tee-Shirt was specially made for Salang Design’s customers to feel comfortable and at home, especially after a long day’s work. 😩
Imagine coming home after a day’s work and then what’s the next thing you do? Well, most of us would change into the most comfortable clothes we have.
That’s the point of this Embroidery Tee-Shirt!
Salang Design wants to create a feeling of comfort in the minds of their customers. A feeling that makes people feel relaxed when wearing their tee-shirt. 😌
How Does Salang Design’s Brand Values Relate To Joey Mattress’ Campaign?
“Embroidering Malaysia Culture” is our brand’s tagline, said the 3 founders. 🇲🇾
We want everyone, including foreigners, travellers and Malaysians to feel a sense of belonging when they wear our products, they said.
They want to make Malaysian culture memorable in the minds of their customers. 🧠
As such, Salang Design’s brand value relates to Joey Mattress’ campaign because both brands are equally passionate about promoting local products.
Salang Design’s products are available to everyone, especially Malaysians, so that we can be proud of our heritage as ‘Anak Malaysia’. 💪
Jiun Pheng, Deryin and Wilden hold strongly to the belief that culture shouldn’t just be limited to museums. 🏺
In fact, culture is something that’s living and dynamic, and therefore, should be a part of our everyday lives.
The Biggest Challenge Salang Design Experienced For This Brand Collaboration
So, what’s the biggest challenge? Details. Details. Details.
When it comes to production work, Jiun Pheng, Deryin and Wilden set a strict standard for themselves to be extremely detail-oriented. 🔎
Before the pandemic, their routine involves traveling to the factory, spending hours to amend and check the sample products, making sure all the details are correct. ✅
Salang Design also used to run roadshows and consign their products to tourist attraction places like Ilham Gallery.
But like most businesses today, Salang Design was forced to shift everything online.
They still consign their products to certain places, but the number of these consignments have been significantly reduced. 📉
Since the ‘new normal’, they also began working remotely. It was inconvenient because the only way to communicate was through online and phone calls.
In spite of covid, they’re grateful that the campaign remained a huge success, all thanks to the wonders of technology.
Interested to learn more about Salang Design? 😊
You can follow them at @salangdesign (Facebook), @salangdesign (Instagram) or visit them at: https://salangdesign.com
Moving on, we spoke to the founder of Lilin+Co, Julie Yim, to tell us more about her brand.
Lilin+Co was started in 2016 to bridge the market gap for accessible quality soy candles, Julie explained. 🕯️
She wanted to produce candles that are eco-friendly without breaking the bank. 💸
Back then, the only options available were expensive luxury candles and mass produced paraffin-based candles which are harmful. 💀
These types of candles aren’t user friendly and luxury candles weren’t accessible to many due to the pricing.
Hence, Lilin+Co was born to counter these issues. 💎
How does Lilin+Co’s Product (Candles) Align With The Theme Of The Campaign?
Even at the start of the pandemic, Julie said there were many people who messaged them to purchase their scented candles.
These people were dealing with anxiety and sleepless nights, she observed. 🛏️
So, Julie was genuinely surprised at how quickly her candles turned into an essential item to help Malaysians cope with anxiety.
From there, she realised her candles could help Malaysians sleep better, which ties in perfectly with Joey Mattress’ campaign theme. 👍
Lastly, the movement started by Joey Mattress is about raising awareness on local products. 🇲🇾
And Lilin+Co is a local brand. So, Julie saw this campaign as a golden opportunity to raise awareness of her products.
How Does This Brand Partnership Add Value To Lilin+Co’s Target Audience?
To answer this question, we asked Julie to tell us more about her target audience. 🎯
She revealed her biggest customer base are people from the younger generation. This includes young adults between the ages of 20 – 35.
This demographic group is more exposed to global trends and are constantly seeking inexpensive quality products, said Julie.
More than that, this generation is also more conscious of the way they live, she added. They’re more likely to support eco-friendly brands. 💪
As such, the value which Lilin+Co offers its target audience are non-expensive eco-friendly candles. ♻️
How Did COVID Change Lilin+Co’s Brand Strategy?
Like most businesses, Lilin+Co revisited their online strategy last year during the lockdown period, Julie noted. ♟️
Julie said Lilin+Co’s digital marketing tactics became more focused on online ads, creating creative content and constantly engaging with her customers on social media.
This year, however, they want to introduce a new offline sensory experience at Lilin+Co’s new studio in PJ. (Now, this is something new!) 🤩
With the opening of their new studio, Julie hopes to venture into more exciting experiences and more unconventional collaborations in future. 👍
Want to learn more? Follow them at @lilinandco (Facebook), @lilinandco (Instagram) or visit them at: https://www.lilinandco.com
Who doesn’t love a good pair of comfy socks? 🧦
Introducing Goodpair Socks. A socks brand that prioritises good design, good comfort and good features for their customers. 👍
The founders, Sam Wong and Fei Kweok, want to produce socks for customers to be worn anywhere for any activity.
Sam and Fei also explained how they chose their brand name.
They chose the word “good” because it serves as a reminder to them to always keep improving. 💪
Moreover, the word “good” was chosen because it’s one of the most easily understood English words.
Hence, Goodpair Socks was formed.
How Does Goodpair Socks’ Brand Vision Relate To This Brand Partnership?
In relation to Joey Mattress’ partnership, Sam and Fei felt capable of providing good quality products to Joey’s customers. 👩👩👦👦
They believed they could evoke good feelings within the hearts of Joey’s customers.
So, they became creative by producing a pair of “Specialised Sleeping Socks” for this campaign. 🧦
These socks are perfect for sleeping with your aircon turned on, when you’re feeling chilly, or whenever you catch a fever. 😷
From their intentions, it’s clear that both Goodpair Socks and Joey Mattress share a similar vision, that is to provide better sleep to their customers. 😴
So, this spurred Goodpair Socks to join this brand collaboration.
What’s the aim for this campaign? Sam and Fei answered they want to reach more users who have never worn a pair of their socks before.
They want their customers to recognise them as a brand that produces good quality socks which can be worn for almost any occasion. 👍
What Are The Biggest Obstacles Goodpair Socks Faced During This Brand Collaboration?
Here’s something you probably didn’t know.
Goodpair Socks’ product, “Specialised Sleeping Socks”, was actually inspired based on the designs of diabetic socks.
Diabetic socks were actually made for people with diabetes to keep their feet dry, decrease their risk of foot injury, and enhance their blood circulation. 💪
So, the biggest obstacle Sam and Fei faced was adjusting the designs of diabetic socks to make them look cool and funky. 😎
Diabetic socks also don’t look as “cool” as rocking a pair of funky socks because the cutting has to be slightly looser, Sam and Fei elaborated.
Thus, in order to make the socks “look simple, not simply” is the biggest challenge of this collaboration.
In reality, their hard work wasn’t easy, noted Sam and Fei. Nevertheless, they are genuinely happy with the end results. 😊
Goodpair Socks’ Advice To Start An Effective Brand Partnership
Sam and Fei encourage more local businesses to start brand partnerships (as long as the collaboration makes sense). 💪
It’s favourable to your business, especially if your brand partner has strengths in different fields, explained Sam and Fei.
This could be any strength in terms of marketing, copywriting, product promotions, etc, both founders elaborated.
Sam and Fei also advised businesses to stay open to their brand partner’s opinions. 👂
And always be honest and straightforward when communicating with brand partners to create a win-win situation for all, they added. 🏆
To rise above the pandemic, Sam and Fei encourage more local businesses to provide a better online shopping experience for their customers during this pandemic. 🦠
Try to describe your product as clearly as possible online, they said. This is because people can’t touch or feel your product.
Also, don’t forget to provide clear instructions for your customers so that they can maximise the use of your product. 🤩
Lastly, offering fast and efficient delivery to your customers is key to keeping your business afloat during the pandemic, commented Sam and Fei.
Interested to learn more about Goodpair Socks? Follow them at @goodpairsocks (Instagram) or @goodpairsocks (Facebook).
Finally, we sat down with Vivienne Piong, one of the founders of Perfectly Tea. ☕
During this interview, Vivienne told us more about herself – she’s someone who tries to be mindful of what she eats/drinks.
This is because she wants to maintain a well-balanced energy to get through long days. That’s why she started Perfectly Tea to cater to people like herself.
But, why tea? 🤷♀️
Tea contains lots of nutritious ingredients for our body, Vivienne explained. It also has herbs that produce a calming effect on the body to sleep well. 😴
Vivienne wants Perfectly Tea to be her target audience’s companion; a companion that supports her customers throughout their fast-paced lifestyle. 🏃♂️
Lastly, she wants it to be a brand for success-oriented people who want a restful sleep at night for a strong start in their early mornings.
How Does Perfectly Tea’s Product (Tea) Relate To Joey Mattress’ Movement?
For this campaign, Vivienne and her team produced their “Good For Bed” tea which contains a blend of roses, pearly barley and red dates.
(Best of all, it’s caffeine-free!) 😃
When the pandemic happened, fear took over and we no longer felt safe, Vivienne observed.
This isn’t living, this is surviving, she commented.
Vivienne believes that fear should never stop us from living a life where you can eat better and sleep better. 😴
So, together with Joey Mattress, she believes they can show Malaysians that fear shouldn’t stop them from sleeping and resting better. That’s why Perfectly Tea made their “Good For Bed” tea. ☕
Their product (tea) relates to Joey Mattress’ movement because it promotes better sleep to all Malaysians in these stressful times.
What Are The Biggest Problems Perfectly Tea Faced During This Brand Collaboration?
The biggest challenge Vivienne and her team experienced was pulling everything together.
This refers to the time taken to create their product. They were faced with a tight deadline, and had to cut down their packaging design time. 📦
They were forced to save as much time throughout every step of the process, especially more time consuming matters like communicating with their manufacturing partners on the specifics.
Nevertheless, Vivienne is proud of how fast and easy it was working with Joey Mattress. 😊
She also went on to say she enjoyed working with Joey and Winson. Their team hit it off to a strong start and the collaboration was great! 💪
How Did Perfectly Tea Adapt Its Brand Strategy to Covid-19?
No one saw the pandemic coming, said Vivienne.
When covid hit, there was no time to prepare. Many startups, including Perfectly Tea, were affected.
However, Vivienne said Perfectly Tea was fortunate enough to meet some amazing brands (both online and offline) to collaborate with and plan solid marketing strategies together, and raise their brand awareness. 🏆
A few examples of these brands are Joey Mattress, Karyaful and Dressing Paula.
These partnerships are important to Perfectly Tea, Vivienne remarked. As it helps them to grow as a brand. 😊
So, this was how Perfectly Tea managed to thrive throughout the pandemic. 🦠
Before finishing the interview, Vivienne also shared some lessons she learnt from brand partnerships.
She advises businesses who are looking to enter into a brand partnership to work with like-minded people. 🧠
This is because your opinions are less likely to clash with one another. As such, you’d be able to spend more time building on what you believe in.
Also, the first interaction is the best time to get to know each other, Vivienne added. This is a great opportunity to gauge the rapport and culture between both parties. 🤝
During these interactions, she advises businesses to listen carefully to their brand partner’s brand story. 👂
By hearing what your partners say about their brand and what it stands for, this will reveal the true colours behind their brand.
More importantly, it’ll give you an idea whether they have a similar outlook on the values that you uphold. 🤔
Interested to learn more about Perfectly Tea?
Follow them at @perfectlytea (Instagram), @perfectlytea (Facebook), or visit their website at: https://www.perfectlytea.com
Wrapping It Up…
So, this wraps up our 3-part series on Joey Mattress and brand partnerships.
What are your thoughts after hearing these insights from the 4 brands above? 🤔
It’s helpful to ponder how to use the practical tips above to kickstart your brand partnership campaign.
So, do take your time to gradually digest all this info.
Until next time, #stayhome, #staysafe and continue to #sapotlocal! 💪
