Connecting with audiences is second nature for champion cyclist, senior Peloton instructor, and social media influencer, Christine D’Ercole. But to ensure her Wordshops™ — motivational storytelling workshops in self-talk — resonated with new corporate buyers, Christine sought out Thinkso’s creative partnership. As a result, we developed a new brand identity and accompanying website to clarify Christine’s message, codify her voice, and illustrate her vibrant personal brand.
BACKGROUND
Christine D’Ercole has enjoyed a successful career as a world champion cyclist and beloved senior Peloton instructor. Her flair for storytelling and fascination with rituals underpin her beloved, motivational Peloton rides. This ability to inspire while spinning and storytelling led Christine to the founding of Wordshops — her proprietary workshops in self-talk which she delivers in both workshop format and as keynote speeches. These poignant, reflective sessions help participants identify the self talk that holds them back and develop their own mantras to move them forward. So after experiencing success facilitating Wordshops with a number of corporate clients, Christine was ready to take her growing business as a motivational speaker to new echelons. By seeking Thinkso’s strategic and creative ingenuity, Christine is equipped to propel her Wordshops with a revitalized brand identity and an equally impactful website.
“Rebranding requires surrender, letting others take what you started to the next level. Thinkso quickly gained my full trust during their deep dive into understanding me and my work. I am in love with every element of my new brand.” Christine D’Ercole
APPROACH
First, we identified that Christine’s website UX was fragmented, and the site focused too heavily on consumer merchandise. One way to address this was by reconstructing the site architecture, which included implementing a lean and intuitive site navigation that also allows potential for growth areas including podcasts and publications. In addition, it was necessary to clarify the purpose and value of Wordshops to customers. We wrote and reorganized the site content so that the homepage tells Christine’s compelling story, provides entry points for visitors to dig deeper, and makes Wordshops the focal point of the entire site.
Additionally, creating a blog space — Chronicles — provides Christine with another channel to reflect upon meaningful topics and deepen engagement with her growing audiences on social media, within the Peloton community, and with future corporate Wordshoppers. Furthermore, Shopify’s platform enabled us to program the site completely in-house, contributing to the project’s affordability and overall efficiency.
Christine’s brand identity also required reimagining to capture and distill her, authentically. Her signature graphic, possessing a homemade feel and serving as her de facto logo, caused brand confusion and overshadowed her name and her Wordshops — the two brand elements that needed to stand out in order to help her meet her business goals. We created a new logotype for her name as well as a new signature graphic that appropriates the “D” in her last name to serve as the mouth of an identifiable and apropos speech bubble. We also developed a color palette to reflect Christine’s personal taste that is soothing and safe, yet also energized. And because writing by hand is such an important part of the Wordshop experience/magic, we incorporated Christine’s own penmanship in the graphics.
The website’s new editorial focuses on communicating a clearer, more thorough explanation of Christine’s offering of Wordshops, but in a tone that’s still true to Christine’s voice. We used language that leveraged “storyteller” and self-talk themes such as “Own the Narrative” and highlighted quotations by Christine that are unique and resonant to audiences who may not already be familiar with her.
RESULT
In the near term, the new identity and website supported Christine’s launch of a limited edition jewelry collection. But the new brand also will continue to proffer her the various visual and communication assets required to reach new clients, audiences, and echelons.
Thinkso created a new signature graphic for Christine—a speech bubble anchored with a sideways “D” (from the D in her logotype)—reminiscent of a mouth speaking. It houses her trademarked mantra, “I AM I CAN I WILL I DO,” as well as her other quotations and images.
We focused the homepage of her website on Christine’s Wordshop offering, the growth area of her brand. The homepage functions as an inviting space where visitors can immediately glean her story, feel her personal brand, and effortlessly discern her voice.
Additionally, we expanded the Wordshop section of the site so that it provides service details, testimonials, and booking information.
Leveraging storyteller-themed language, “Own the Narrative” is the Shopify-powered merchandise page of Christine’s website. Visitors can easily browse the thematically categorized products and share their purchases on social media.
To ensure her new brand identity was reflected consistently in her daily engagements with social media audiences, we created a series of templates that Christine can easily customize and seamlessly use across channels.