When we began working with Yakult, our goal was to create original, shareable content that would spark conversation within Yakult's broader audience. We wanted to create a brand that would be personable and relatable to its many fans, in the US and overseas. Yakult U.S.A is an international company with a rich history spanning over 80 years. When Yakult asked us to bring a fresh perspective to their Facebook and Twitter platforms, we knew we wanted to preserve that history and culture while bringing an updated, creative approach to the brand's published content. It was a challenge to maintain a unified voice with Yakult's other social media platforms in 33 other countries and regions, but we combined custom illustrations, graphic design, and original photography to increase sentiment and engagement for Yakult.
Our entry for the Shorty Awards features a playful, DIY-design style. We hand made paper crafts and illustrated unique drawings to highlight Yakult in an artistic, whimsical way. Keeping the consumer in mind, we chose themes that Yakult's audience were sure to love and engage with, such as our various social media holiday designs and individual state shout-outs. Each image draws the viewer into a world where anthropomorphized Yakult bottles are having fun, going on adventures, and staying healthy. Our images are upbeat, friendly, and family-oriented, but still cheeky enough to keep Yakult's fan base interested and engaged.
Social Control is proud to say that by implementing this art direction, we successfully increased Yakult's Facebook post engagement rate by 25.23% over the course of 5 months, as well as a 40% growth in engagement on Twitter. We believe that their post-engagement will only continue to grow in the coming months, as we continue to create these little scenarios for each image. Our goal was simply to increase brand awareness, page sentiment, and overall engagement with our posts for Yakult, and we succeeded in creating this unique style.
