Client Overview
Bophelong Bricks has been in the game for decades. Manufacturers of quality concrete paving and building bricks. Based between Bophelong and Vanderbijlpark, the company has been one of the major brick suppliers to the building industry in Gauteng.
The Challenge: Upping sales following a major market shift
The construction industry in South Africa is not what it was when Bophelong Bricks first started in the 1990s. Over the years, fewer and fewer major development projects finally put the company in a position where it had to seriously consider a new approach to marketing and selling its product.
Our Solution: Speaking to, incentivising and inspiring end customers to build with Bop Bricks
Phase 1: Clarity – We defined the brand’s positioning and identified its target audience.
The product was simple – how do you market a brick, right? We turned to what you can build with bricks – what a customer could do with a brick was aspirational. So our approach was to set out how Bop Bricks can become the brick of choice for people in the townships areas of Gauteng who want to level up their homes by building on or adding walls or paving, or… build a totally new home for their family.
Phase 2: Craft – Adjusting the name and image to speak to a new market.
We redesigned the brand image without losing any of the former brand value. Bophelong Bricks became Bop Bricks – you’ll see why in a bit.
Phase 3: Strategy – Speak the language, inspire and make it easy to build your dream
We ramped up Bop Bricks’ social media game. Short videos in local languages across new platforms with product info, helpful tips and inspirational ideas. Bam! Hundreds of thousands of views organically!
Next, we ensured the sales side was on top of things, responding to messages and accommodating walk-in customers. Their great sales team were equipped with house plans and went beyond just selling what the customer asked for, but helped suggest design ideas and calculate what it would take to achieve their dream. The team worked hard to further improve their already good reputation for delivering bricks faster than their competition.
Bop Bricks’ orange needed to be boldly displayed on every delivery, and the premises and sales area revamped. Then… bricks themselves were branded with BOP. We ran competitions like ‘WIN A HOUSE WORTH OF BRICKS’ and featured building projects that used Bop Bricks on social media.
The Results: New customers, a buzz and sales up!
Our mandate was to increase retail sales, and we helped Bop Bricks achieve this within six months. Also, we trained up the internal marketing team to continue with the new marketing strategy in-house, periodically advising and supporting as needed.