AllWheek
Brand Strategy, Identity, & Management Elements
Naming
Logo Development
Visual Identity
Copywriting
Social Media Content Development and Management (Instagram)
Audience Growth Manager (Instagram)
Product Photography and Creative Direction
The Results
Launched January 2022 and by April 2022,
Audience on Instagram had organically grown to 2,891 followers.
Social-to-web conversion had grown contact list to over 100 contacts interested in future product launches and growth of the brand.
Due to emergent new priorities, the project has been largely inactive for two years, although the content continues to resonate with the community. As of July 2024, the AllWheek Instagram account has recieved:
218k plays, 28k “Likes”, and 1,574 “Saves” on a single Reel (view here)
2,454 followers
Naming AllWheek
I wanted the name to sound like the “Madewell” of the small mammal ownership lifestyle, not something like “PetSmart” or “Petco” names that demphasized companion animals as a top priority in our lives. The unique sound that guinea pigs make when they are excited - anticipating a snack or playing with other pigs - they wheek. A wheek is a high-pitched squeaky bleat that when in a group is a bright, happy cacophony of sound that likely inspired the original developers of the character’s spoken voice in the video game, Animal Crossing. Adding “All” in front of Wheek told customers that the brand celebrated all aspects of the 24/7 guinea pig mom lifestyle. Together, AllWheek also sounds the same as the common phrase “all week” which puts the brand in the mouths of customers each day without thinking about it.
Brand Identity
The Strategy
In 2022, AllWheek started with the launch of a single product, the AllWheek Piggy Pool - a highly-stylized retro futuristic vapor wave soft bed for small mammals, specifically guinea pigs and hamsters. The brand also included lifestyle content and merchandise for the owners of small mammals in the United States and the UK.
The Opportunity
There is a thriving small mammal “mom & dad” community on Instagram and Tik Tok, but lack of high-impact consumer brands that appeal to and connect with this niche well. There are many guinea pig accessories companies with Etsy storefronts, but the merchandise was homogenous and did not offer the customer a stylized, bold design for their small mammal set up.
The AllWheek project was born out of curiosity. After my work with One for the World, I wanted to try to build a brand from scratch and learn more about how the Instagram algorithm worked organically and with paid Meta ads. I grew my audience quickly during a time when Reels was newer and spent a lot of time and energy organically engaging with my community and followers. The plan was to grow a community now that could be converted to customers down the road.
The brand palette is made up of two core brand colors, AllWheek Orange and Piggy Pool Aqua, paired with white and black, with a complimentary palette of three pastel shades that add warmth and incorporates a popular “cutesy-kawaii” aesthetic that resonates with small animal owner community. The logo is a simple, but hyper-cute rendition of a guinea pig sitting on his hind legs and incorporates AllWheek Orange. The primary and secondary fonts are sans serif to communicate approachability and a non-serious playfulness to the brand that is reminiscent of the personality of guinea pigs themselves.
