NAKED APE Creative Work-Life Balance for Dummies.
Creative Strategy & Promotion 1
CONTENTS
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5
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12
Concept & Aims
Rationale
Target Audience
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30
36
Research & Market Analysis
Content Strategy
Promotion
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44
48
Corporate Responsibility
Budget
Risk Assessment
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52
54
Timeline
Evaluating Success
References & Appendices
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NAKED APE
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. 4
Nathana Reboucas on Unsplash
CONCEPT & AIMS
NAKED APE
Creative Work-Life Balance for Dummies.
NA
Naked Ape is a subscription for burned out creatives seeking an intervention. Our unorthodox approach to workplace wellness aims to help those working from home in creative industries to re-establish healthy boundaries and curb their digital fatigue by encouraging time wellspent away from screens. Cutting out the superficial and the cliché, its novelty yet honest content aims to make a common issue more human and approachable. Our Mission: to forge a community of like-minded, state-of-the-art human beings, rebelling against creative burnout, perfectionism and working unnecessarily hard.
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OUR AIMS Naked Ape doesn’t claim to have all the answers. Instead, it provides creative souls and abstract thinkers with a source of inspiration, excitement and perspective, that can guide them towards a solution that works for them alone. Plus, it reminds them to have fun in the process.
Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
improve THE WORK WELLBEING OF CREATIVES Help the community to establish healthier boundaries, and make sustainable changes to improve their work-life balance.
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CONCEPT & AIMS
Kevin Turcios on Unsplash
CURB DIGITAL FATIGUE
REALISTIC, NOT SUPERFICIAL
Show creatives how to spend technology-free time to themselves instead of using wellness and self-care apps, as many work on computers for most of the day.
The wellness industry is often criticised for superficiality and exclusivity. We want to take an achievable approach to wellness that sceptical creative souls can get stuck into.
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RATIONALE Increase in Remote Work The legal requirement of remote work due to the pandemic has enabled teams to prove that they can work effectively without the office environment1. McKinsey2 predicts that hybrid models are likely to be implemented post-pandemic in many office-based job roles where physical presence is not compulsory. In a survey across all global sectors, 38 percent of respondents anticipated their remote employees to work two or more days per week from home after the pandemic, compared to 22 percent beforehand. The UK was found to have the highest potential for remote work compared to other countries with advanced economies. Freelance work is also expected to grow in the coming years, with many industry professionals claiming that COVID has opened up further opportunities for freelance workers in creative industries3.
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RATIONALE
16%
REMOTE WORK ACROSS GLOBAL SECTORS (McKinsey, 2020)
24%
BURNOUT ‘Work-from-home burnout’ has been widely covered online during the pandemic. According to data from NordVPN and Wildgoose, UK workers have increased their working week by 25 percent, with the average worker increasing their time online by two hours per day4. It also revealed home workers are taking shorter lunch breaks, working through sickness, further blurring work and home life. This upsurge in time spent working has led to mental fatigue. Research in July 2020 found that over two-thirds of employees are experiencing symptoms of burnout while working from home5. Confirming this, 2020 Google search data showed a 24% spike in searches for terms like ‘signs of burnout’, compared to 20196.
BURNOUT GOOGLE SEARCHES (Google Insights, 2020)
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An analysis of existing wellness subscriptions (see page 20) has shown that many take the form of pamper sets or aromatherapy. The branding and style of many wellness subscriptions are gendered, or white and beige, indicating there is space for a subscription that is bolder, exciting and more inclusive. In today’s turbulent climate, experts have predicted that realistic goal-setting will become more common, shown by an increase in pragmatic New Year’s resolutions this year – such as weight management instead of weight loss7. It has become clear that wellness is not a luxury, but a necessity.
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2021 Blue Monday posters, Feel Good Club, Manchester
SHIFTING WELLNESS NEEDS
RATIONALE
DIGITAL HEALTH Large amounts of screen time can have many negative effects, including eye fatigue, lack of sleep, poorer concentration and lower self-esteem8. Psychotherapist Zoe Aston has defined ‘digital health’ as “having a balanced and effective state of wellbeing in relationship to technology”. Combined with an increase in remote working hours, Microsoft Windows found that at the end of 2020, almost a third of the UK population admitted feeling less than great about their digital health.
Rosebox Subscription on Unsplash
GROWTH OF SUBSCRIPTION MARKET According to Finder, the UK subscription box market is estimated to grow by 77% to be worth over £1 billion by 2022, this is a 72% increase from 20179. They provide convenience and routine to consumers, things which can contribute towards positive wellbeing.
FreeStocks on Unsplash
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Due to having no children or major family responsibilities, they have a huge amount of independence and free time outside of their working hours. This, combined with a flexible working pattern in which they work remotely on a regular basis, means that they tend to work overly long hours. This causes them to experience burnout, making them feel they need an intervention.
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Dylan Gilli
Naked Ape is for burned out creatives from a range of industries who feel they need to improve their worklife balance. They’re a mixture of older Generation Z and Millennials, aged between 22 and 32. This means that they are either navigating the beginning of their creative career, or have started to establish longer-term unhealthy working habits. They’re primarily female – as research shows that, on average, women are more prone to both burnout and perfectionism.
s on Unsp lash
TARGET AUDIENCE
TARGET AUDIENCE
BUYER PERSONA: JEN Profile Jen is a 26-year-old freelance graphic designer living in Leeds. She’s a talented designer with five years of experience and contacts working at agencies, so went freelance last year to increase her salary. Her income is now £30,000. Jen doesn’t have children, is currently single, living in a rented apartment.
Motivations & Goals Jen’s main goal currently is to learn how to feel more present, happy and fulfilled, so that she can improve her enjoyment of both her work and personal life. She is passionate about exceeding as a designer, but also knows her habits are detrimental to her stress levels. She is aiming to improve her overall wellbeing, by lowering her extremely high standards of herself and gradually changing her work-life balance in a sustainable way.
Values & Interests • • • • •
Art and design Loyal to brands that she respects Constantly learning and improving Being part of a positive community Convenience and routine
Frustrations & Challenges Because Jen works remotely, she struggles to differentiate work and home life because they’re both in the same place. She doesn’t know when and how to switch off and often feels guilty in her free time. This is lowering her motivation and excitement for life. She has identified that she is burnt out, but doesn’t know how to break this cycle in the long-term. Jen has tried wellness apps and self-care products but struggles to be consistent and doesn’t think they’re helping. Ideally she would like to try methods that don’t involve technology as she’s aware that she’s on her computer for most of the day, and is experiencing physical side effects of high screen time.
Communication & Engagement • Prefers Instagram – has personal and work accounts • Uses Facebook for community news • Regularly checks email (personal and work)
Influences She is influenced by her like-minded friends, those in her professional network, and well-known designers that she admires in the industry. She is responsive to personalised and targeted ads when scrolling through social media.
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“Creative industries glamorise the busy factor, so much so that you lose sight of how overworked you may actually be.” – Lapp
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Jr Korpa on Unsplash
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
SECONDARY RESEARCH CREATIVE BURNOUT LAPP explained that those working in creative industries can often feel that their creativity is underappreciated or exploited10. With creative thinking, often comes high expectations and therefore stress and pressure. Combining this with freelance work means added irregular work patterns, high volumes of travel, isolation and job security considerations. Research by Comparably shows that 56% of people in design jobs say they feel burned out11 – the highest of all jobs in the tech industries – proving that there are improvements to be made for the mental wellbeing of those working in creative industries. A survey by Digiday+ in 2019 found that 32% of agency professionals reported were worried about their mental health, across media and creative industries12. This also correlated with the
number of hours they worked – more hours equated to a higher amount of mental stress. This indicates that a lack of work-life balance is a crucial factor which contributes towards creative burnout.
56% OF DESIGN WORKERS FEEL BURNED OUT (Comparably US, 2017)
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Perfectionism A 2016 study in the Psychological Bulletin Journal indicated that there has been a rise in perfectionism in millennials13. It found that on average, between 1989 and 2016, self-oriented perfectionism has increased by 10%, and socially prescribed has increased by 33%. Perfectionism can be incredibly detrimental to creativity, as it prevents risk-taking, makes it hard to adapt to new situations and ideas, and encourages procrastination, which harms the ability to achieve creative goals14.
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Perfectionism at work can often lead to a poorer work-life balance, as these workers can find themselves working longer hours to meet extremely high standards, or compensate for slower progress. Research by Gawlik shows that statistically, women are more likely to show perfectionistic tendencies compared to men, often experiencing stronger feelings of inadequacy and higher levels of stress15.
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
CRITICISMS of THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY Exclusivity and Superficiality Naked Ape’s focus on work-life balance places us in a similar category to that of the self-help and wellness industries. Being so lucrative today, many have criticised both as being exclusive and entitled. Click-bait articles claiming to instantly enhance wellness are now being criticised for dishonesty and unacknowledged privilege. In 2018, Self Magazine said that the wellness industry “caters almost exclusively to white, wealthy people”16. The growing trend of spiritual wellness products in the west poses the risk of spiritual materialism – buying into
the idea of wellness instead of actually benefiting from it17. Many have a premium price tag and therefore exclude those with lower incomes. These criticisms show that a better approach in advising and encouraging better habits could be through learning about a wide range of perspectives and experiences, which allows the individual to take the advice they feel works best for their situation. Through our content and community, Naked Ape aims to better represent people from all backgrounds and provide more attainable solutions for our audience.
Farsai Chaikulngamdee on Unsplash
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PRIMARY RESEARCH I surveyed a range of people, including twenty-three that were students that will be entering employment in the coming years, and eighteen that were employed in industries such as design, marketing, media and education (Appendix A). 69% were female and 28% were male. The majority of respondents were aged between 18 and 24, so many are at the younger end of my target audience age range. This has given interesting insight into general attitudes towards wellness preferences and stress, and why consumers choose the products and services that they do.
UNISEX BRANDING & STYLE An analysis of competitors within the wellness subscription market found that many took a gendered approach to wellness in terms of content and identity. This insight shows that the majority do not respond as well to this approach, and so creating a unisex and inclusive brand appeals to more consumers. Naked Ape’s branding and content has been created with this in mind.
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56%
often feel stressed or burnt out. The rest sometimes do.
69%
of respondents prefer a unisex and inclusive style and aesthetic, rather than clearly feminine or masculine.
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
83%
of respondents find activities not involving technology to be most stress-relieving.
TECHLESS WELLNESS Primary research found a disparity in the number of respondents who used wellness apps versus those who listed them to be stress-relieving. While 44% of respondents had used wellness apps in the last year, only 9% listed meditation as being particularly stress-relieving, and only 17% listed activities involving technology. Techless methods such as strenuous exercise, walking and bathing were the most common activities they found particularly stress-relieving. This confirms that techless wellness beats the effectiveness of digital wellness.
• “Podcasts are a convenient way to take information in on the go, and I read books because I like the experience of reading something physical instead of online.” • “I tried using Headspace but I cancelled after a few months, I don't think I'm spiritual enough for it so felt I was wasting my money.” • “My favourite podcast is The Daily Pep, it provides motivation for female creatives and I always identify with the issues she talks about because I experience them too. I bought a self-care package during lockdown but I wouldn't get it again as it was just filled with things I could buy at the shop.” • “The smaller exciting things keep me going. Otherwise everyday seems to roll into the same frequency.” 19
NAKED APE
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS WELLNESS & PERSONAL GROWTH BOXES
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Box of Calm
A Box of Happiness
£32 per box
From £20
Products focused around aromatherapy to soothe anxiety and stress. Includes a mist, candle, tea, skin balm, and anti-anxiety playing cards.
Five themes: confidence, law of attraction, purpose, self awareness and growth mindset. Contains a journal, worksheets, inspirational note cards and stationery.
Passion & G
From £28 p
Specifically d female entr containing ite positivity. Prom a like-minded c training tools fo
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
Overall, most of these boxes are fairly general, and don’t specifically cater to the needs of a specific group of people. In the cases of Passion & Growth, and Muse Illuminate, which are significantly more targeted, they both seem to have a visibly gendered identity, and may not appeal to those who don’t respond as well to clearly masculine or feminine aesthetics.
Growth (US)
per month
designed for repreneurs, ems to spark motes access to community and or the industry.
Muse Illuminate (US)
Pause by Mind Charity
From £20 per month
£7.50 per box
Resources to help remote workers with accountability and achieving goals. Includes books, workbooks and goaloriented activities, plus online webinars and resources.
Includes a relaxing activity, e.g. juice recipes and a metal straw, a notebook with quotes, activity cards, pom pom bookmark and design your own tealight holder. Proceeds go to Mind. 21
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COMPETITOR ANALYSIS DIGITAL WELLNESS The convenience of mobile apps to improve wellness appeals to a large number of consumers globally, with habit-tracking, meditation and mindfulness becoming popular over the few years. More than 2,500 meditation mobile applications have been launched since 201520, and so Naked Ape will likely have to compete with this area of wellness.
The Fabulous App £10.80 per month The aim of Fabulous is to help users build better habits and create structure, or ‘rituals’, in their lives to suit their needs. It gamifies goal-setting and allows for customisation based on the user’s personality. However, as it is targeted at creating daily habits, it has been described as slightly rigid, and the notifications that remind you to complete your goals can be easy to ignore if they get lost among the user’s other notifications. The price to subscribe to Fabulous is cheaper per month when you sign up for the whole year, incentivising customer loyalty. 22
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
Headspace £9.99 per month Headspace is a global guided meditation app which has over two million subscribers. Its mission is ‘to improve the health and happiness of the world’. Six hundred businesses have partnered with the app to offer it free to their employees, such as Google, LinkedIn and Adobe. User demographics show there to be a fifty-fifty split between male and female, and an even distribution of eighteen to sixty-five year olds. The app provides a wide range of guided meditations for specific goals or issues, such as sleep troubles, anxiety and stress, and mindfulness. Subscription prices for Headspace also become cheaper per month when you sign up for a full year.
While digital wellness is undoubtedly popular, its weakness is that it does not alleviate the digital fatigue that many feel, and may in fact be detrimental to those experiencing symptoms. 23
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WORK AND DESIGN IN PRINT WORK AND DESIGN-RELATED MAGAZINES Backstage Talks £10, yearly Backstage Talks is “a magazine of casual, but in depth dialogues on design and business.” Issues are open and honest in their discussion of making the right design decisions in a complex world. While it is not a regular publication or subscription, it shows the value of honesty when talking about the design industry, which suggests this would project well across other creative sectors. Its design and style are fairly playful and clever which appeals to those working in design who appreciate these small touches. 24
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
Courier Magazine £6, bi-monthly Focused on start-up culture, Courier is targeted at young entrepreneurs in a range of industries, aiming to help readers acquire the tools to succeed, seize opportunities, and be in control of their happiness. Examples of content include “how to adopt a four-day work week”, “the new Covid-friendly office”, as well as various profiles and case studies of new companies that are showing success. Courier touches on happiness at work and work-life balance, however isn’t as niche as Naked Ape, and is more practical in terms of the nature of its content. The variety of how-to and case study content provides interest for the reader and show that a mixture of features is key. The magazine has approximately 150 pages, and costs £6 per issue. It costs £8.50 including postage if bought direct from Courier’s website. An annual subscription (six issues per year) costs £36 with free postage. 25
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SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS • Naked Ape is a niche subscription for those in creative industries, therefore it can be targeted specifically to their needs, improving the likelihood of customer loyalty. • The subscription provides a strong sense of community, which WGSN notes has and will become an important consumer need to combat the loneliness of the pandemic. • Inclusive and creative branding and design separates us from a large part of the similar products and services in the wellness industry. • The surprise theme element combined with convenience of monthly delivery could suit our target market’s needs more than competitors.
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WEAKNESSES • The niche nature of our brand means that our pool of potential subscribers is smaller, so we will not benefit from economies of scale when printing our materials. This means that our subscription will need to be a higher price, which could deter potential members. • Initially low profit margins means that we will not be able to afford a large team to organise each issue, meaning much harder work for a few employees. • As one of Naked Ape’s main messages is to curb screen time, we will not be able to harness the power of digital content as much as other brands and publications, as this would contradict our own mission.
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
• Digital wellness and detoxing is becoming more of a priority for consumers18, which increases the appeal for engaging in leisure and consuming content that is offline.
• The digital wellness industry is thriving and many consumers may settle with the ultraconvenience of an app rather than the novelty of a print magazine subscription.
• The growth of subscription box industry suggests that consumers would be more willing to invest in a subscription service of this kind.
• Many wellness brands are already established and large-scale and so can offer lower prices than Naked Ape.
• The future anticipated growth of remote working and shifts towards more freelance creative work increases the amount of creatives who will be working from home and therefore could be more in need of this service.
• Without effective, targeted promotion, Naked Ape could get lost among other services in an already saturated wellness market.
• Brings the opportunity to work with creatives in our community to create engaging content and tailor it more to their needs.
• Naked Ape is reliant on crowdfunding. Kickstarter has a 38% chance of success19, so trying to gain enough subscriptions to launch could be challenging.
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THE SIX P'S
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PRODUCT
PRICE
PROMOTION
Monthly Print Magazine The Naked Ape magazine is monthly to reinforce the message that forming better habits involves a long-term process, not short-term gratification. Each month focuses on a new novelty theme that inspires the reader to view work-life balance in a fresh way.
Pricing Bands Naked Ape will be available to buy as a regular subscription or on a month-by-month basis to increase the likelihood of custom from those with lower budgets. Subscriptions will cost £7 for the magazine and £10 for the box – while standalone will cost £9 and £12 respectively.
In the run up to the Kickstarter, there will be a larger budget for paid promotion through Instagram, aiming to reach up to 39,000 users. However, as Naked Ape’s start-up budget is low, guerilla marketing tactics will be utilised to draw in the target audience and create strong brand affinity and loyalty.
Novelty Themed Items To complement the monthly theme, the subscription contains a selection of smaller items that will enrich the Naked Ape experience. For example, the ‘Scout Season’ issue includes cookie box nets for the reader to construct and gift to friends and family, plus a Scout Handbook and sticker sheet in the style of embroidered badges.
Costs Initial start-up costs amount to £1700.09, with regular monthly costs totalling £2463.33. The Kickstarter goal of £3500, plus savings, will cover these costs. With a predicted monthly income of £2600 through sales, merchandise and advertising, Naked Ape will be able to achieve small profits from the beginning.
Naked Ape’s Instagram account will create a friendly space for members to connect as well as enticing non-members. Curated music and podcast playlists on the brand’s Spotify channel will allow members to immerse themselves in the brand and increase Naked Ape’s significance in members’ lives.
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALSIS
PLACE
PEOPLE
Offline, Physical Content As Naked Ape’s goal is to encourage time well-spent away from screens, all subscription products are physical and are to be interacted with offline.
Target Market Burned out creatives aged between 22 and 32, either navigating the beginning of their creative career, or starting to establish long-term unhealthy working habits. They’re primarily female – as research shows that women are more prone to both burnout and perfectionism.
Online Presence Online promotion will help to raise awareness for the Kickstarter fundraiser, but after starting up, online presence will be kept to a minimum intentionally to reinforce brand values. Naked Ape’s website, nakedape.club, will take sales and provide brand information. Other presence will exist through Instagram and Spotify. Existing members will receive a teaser newsletter via email before each issue to create excitement.
Due to having no children or major family responsibilities, they have masses of independence and free time outside of working hours. This, combined with a flexible remote working pattern, means that they tend to work longer hours. This causes them to experience burnout, making them feel they need an intervention.
PERSUASION Novelty & Surprise The element of surprise created through a new novelty theme each month generates interest and suspense, which persuades members to continue subscribing. Kickstarter Incentives To persuade people to pledge money towards the start-up, Naked Ape will reward the first 200 subscribers with exclusive merchandise and member perks. Instagram Community Instagram followers will experience a strong sense of community through engaging and interactive content on the platform, enticing them to consider a subscription, to gain all benefits of Naked Ape.
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CONTENT STRATEGY Monthly Subscription The Naked Ape monthly magazine is a novelty but wholesome publication filled with fun content and interesting perspectives on creative work-life balance. The full subscription package includes the magazine and a collection of themed items to complement the focus of the issue. This will be available as a regular monthly subscription as well as a standalone purchase. To intensify the reader’s sense of surprise and excitement every month, the Naked Ape publication comes with bonus items which tie in with the month’s theme. Positive psychology research found that a person’s happiness and sense of wellbeing can be improved significantly by practicing kindness, valuing relationships, and improving mindfulness, so items have been created with this in mind.
Dimensions 255mm x 195mm
Distribution Self-distribution via registered subscribers and online orders, plus a trial run selling through independent magazine retailers.
Paper Stock Cover: Uncoated 300gsm Inside pages: Uncoated 150gsm
Price Subscription: £7 magazine only; £10 full box Standalone: £9 magazine only; £12 full box
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CONTENT STRATEGY
Initial Print Run 200 (minimum, based on Kickstarter)
Frequency Monthly, reinforcing the idea that ‘wellbeing’ is a longterm goal, not a short-term achievement
Type of Content
Creative Work-Life Balance for Dummies.
Every issue will include interviews with a range of creatives and their perspectives on work-life balance in their industry, and realistic self-reflection activities to encourage the reader to think about their habits and mindset. Each month will focus on an overarching seasonal theme, to add a layer of novelty and surprise for the reader when they receive their issue. 31
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THE JUNE ISSUE: Scout Season The June issue reimagines ‘scouthood’ – widely associated with achievements and adventure, as a nostalgic way to explore the ‘survival skills’ needed in the adult working life. This issue will include a scout handbook, a pocket-sized booklet reminding the reader of a few grounding worklife balance rules and space to self-reflect on habits and celebrate achievements. Corresponding with a cookie recipe feature in the magazine, humorous branded scout cookie box nets allow the reader to self-construct and fill with home-baked cookies to share with their family and friends.
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CONTENT STRATEGY
N A KT EHDANDABOPOEK SCOU
TH IS BE LO N GS TO :
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CONTENT STRATEGY
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PROMOTION THE KICKSTARTER The main goal of the initial promotion of Naked Ape is to raise crowdfunding in order to gain enough finance to start trading – without this the business will not be able to stay afloat. We will crowdfund through Kickstarter, setting a goal of £3500 and a deadline of several months in order to achieve this. All promotion in the lead up to the deadline will aim to target potential investors and subscribers who align with Naked Ape’s mission.
Pledge Options • First Month + Tote + Notebook: £15 • Advertising Spot in Issue: £50 • Year-Long Brand Sponsor: £300
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PROMOTION
ADVERTISING: IT’S NICE THAT During the campaign to raise funds, Naked Ape will utilise display advertising on the newsletter of art and design news website, It’s Nice That. According to their media kit (Appendix B), their audience is an even split of male and females, and 27% of their 500,000 monthly website users are from the UK. 70% of their audience is aged between 18 and 35, and work in a range of creative industries, including Art, Design, Marketing, Advertising and Media. This shows that It’s Nice That is a suitable advertising platform to use.
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INSTAGRAM COMMUNITY Our target market uses Instagram regularly, so we believe this to be the most effective platform for promotion. The goal of Naked Ape’s Instagram is to forge a community and showcase product value, enticing non-members. We aim to inject our followers’ feeds with feel-good content to remind them to be realistic and kind to themselves regarding their working habits, through: • Shareable content for users to repost to Stories • Posting interactive Stories, e.g. polls and question boxes that will encourage valuable conversations with the community • Story takeovers and Instagram Lives with creatives and those with expert knowledge
Promoted Instagram Posts (Paid) Using Instagram’s promotion tool to target posts at specific audiences (based on characteristics such as age, gender, location, interests and online behaviours), we can target creatives in the UK that regularly engage with wellness related content and are showing signs of burnout. We will aim for brand awareness and conversions to our website through this method of promotion. 38
PROMOTION
NAKED NEWSLETTER Monthly subscribers will receive the Naked Newsletter towards the end of every month. This will contain a teaser of the month ahead, to create a sense of suspense and excitement, without fully giving away the theme.
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SPOTIFY Spotify is the best platform to discover new music and podcasts, which aligns with our brand values in several ways. Music has the power to affect mood and form friendships with like-minded people, and the discovery of new things can lead to an intrinsic sense of adventure and fulfilment. We will regularly curate music and podcast playlists by genre, mood and topic, to engage with our community and potential customers on an emotional level and further become a valuable part of their daily lives.
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PROMOTION
MERCHANDISE Merchandise will be given as an added incentive to those who sign up for a Naked Ape membership through Kickstarter. This will also act as a form of guerilla marketing to spread knowledge of the brand through peers. Once the subscription is up and running, selling merchandise will help to break even while running costs are high.
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CORPORATE Responsibility REALISTIC APPROACH
Sustainability Commitment
With a readership largely made up of perfectionists and workaholics, we’re against setting unachievable standards in the name of personal growth and self-optimisation. Our content reinforces being more realistic, and celebrating small achievements. We believe this makes positivity and personal fulfilment significantly more attainable for our target audience.
The magazine will be printed on easily recyclable uncoated paper stock and will arrive with the customer in a recycled paper envelope. Once we have 500 subscribers, we will be able to afford to print on recycled paper stock. For promotional items, we have selected tote bags and notebooks as we consider these items to be purposeful.
As we operate within the sphere of wellbeing, we also must acknowledge that we can’t always provide solutions for all. Therefore we clearly disclaim to our readers that we should never replace professional therapy, and that readers should seek this if they suspect it is needed. Inside every issue, there is a list of mental health resources that can provide further advice and assistance. 42
We also commit to using the most energy efficient provider for our budget. Initially we will distribute via Royal Mail, which have actively aimed to reduce carbon emissions and water consumption over the past few years. As Naked Ape grows, we will review which is the most sustainable courier service that we are able to use.
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
INCLUSIVE CONTENT The wellness and wellbeing industries are often said to lack inclusivity – Naked Ape aims to change this. We are inclusive in our content, contributors and design. We aim to feature the perspectives of creatives from all different backgrounds and industries, to collate real experiences and provide a more accurate picture of creative work wellbeing. Naked Ape’s branding and style aims to be inclusive and unisex, to combat gendered wellness products on the market that don’t appeal to all.
CHARITABLE DONATION Once profitable, Naked Ape will give 5% of its profits to charity. Instead of choosing this ourselves, when a member subscribes to Naked Ape, they will be asked if they would like to elect a registered charity of their choice. Each month one member will be picked at random, and their chosen charity will receive the donation – this will be announced in the newsletter. By doing this, we hope to enable our community to make a positive difference to others and not just themselves, no matter how small, and remind them that their values matter to us. 43
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BUDGET: COSTS START-UP COSTS Cost
Amount
Business Incorporation & Registration
£12
Business Website & Domain Name Wix Business Unlimited = £8 per month nakedape.club = £0.84 for 1 year Professional Indemnity Insurance Small magazine
£96.84 for 1 year
Employers’ Liability Insurance 2 employees
£354 for 1 year
Display Media on It’s Nice That
£500
Kickstarter Promotion on Instagram Estimated reach of up to 39,000 users
£150
Merchandise 200 tote bags and notebooks from Camaloon
£487.25
£100 for 1 year
= £1700.09
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BUDGET
regular MONTHLY COSTS To keep costs to a minimum while a small start-up business, staff will work from home and stock will be stored here too.
Cost
Monthly Total
Subscription Box Printing 200 copies at Mixam (£3.60 per copy) = £720 per month Box Items Budget = £1 x 200 = £200 per month
£1020
Packaging Pack of 125 x Board backed recycled envelopes = £20.54
£32.86
Courier Service Royal Mail 2nd Class (up to 500g): £1.99 x 200
£398
Adobe InDesign & Photoshop
£30
Spotify Account
£9.99
Part-time Staff 1 x 24 hours x £8.36ph = £200.64pw 1 x 8 hours x £6.56ph (part-time role for a student) = £52.48pw
£1012.48
Mailchimp Basic Newsletter Service
Free
Instagram Promoted Post Budget Estimated reach of up to 19,000 users
£60
Merchandise (25 tote bags & notebooks)
£210.37
= £2463.33
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NAKED APE
BUDGET: INCOME START-UP INCOME Income
Amount
Personal Savings Used to cover start-up costs Government start-up loan One-off Advertising 4 spaces per issue: £100 each Kickstarter Target
£1500
£500 £400
£3500 Goal: 200 founding subscribers (£3000) + 4 advertisers (£200) + 1 yearlong sponsor (£300)
= £6900
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FUTURE MONTHLY INCOME Income
Amount
Magazine & Box Sales Subscription and standalone Merchandise 25 tote bags and 25 notebooks Advertising Minimum of 2 featured ads per month
£2000 minimum
£500
£100 minimum
= £2600
BUDGET
Initial Costs (start-up + first month)
£4163.42 Start-up Income – Initial Costs
£2736.58 Future Monthly Profit (200 Subs)
£136.67
Having surplus cash after the first month will be beneficial for financial security, should any unplanned costs arise. In future months, we should be making around £2600 per month, which will mean that we are making £136.67 profit per month at a minimum. While this is low initially, cost per subscription will decrease as subscriptions rise, eventually improving profit. This will also enable us to begin donating 5% to charity.
47
NAKED APE
RISK ASSESSMENT
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ENSURING VALUE for money
Dependence on SUBSCRIPTIONS
As a start-up magazine, our print runs are small which means we will not benefit from economies of scale. This means that the cost per customer is higher, which increases the minimum price we can sell the subscription at in order to break even – so we need to be able to justify a slightly higher price to customers. We seek to alleviate this by focusing on creating a subscription package full of content that is meaningful and invaluable, rather than material and overly gimmicky, so that members feel they are genuinely benefitting from subscribing to us. This should help us ensure that our subscribers consider Naked Ape to be an indispensable monthly service.
Having a subscription model would create a dependence on monthly subscribers to make up our primary income. It is likely that many of our potential customers may not be ready to commit to a regular monthly fee, depending on their financial or personal situations. Therefore, making sure to diversify distribution so that the Naked Ape magazine can be purchased direct from our website and through a range of independent book shops, aims to maximise the target market’s willingness to buy into our service. Our subscription pricing bands will also help to minimise this risk.
RISK ASSESSMENT
SELLING A NICHE PUBLICATION
BREAKING EVEN
Selling a niche publication targeted specifically at burnt out creatives seeking a better work-life balance means that the potential readership is considerably smaller than magazines with a broader focus and audience. In order to mitigate this risk, Naked Ape needs to make sure that our content matches the needs of the target market perfectly, and continuously collect feedback on what appeals to them by forming closer relationships with members and encouraging interaction.
As shown in the Logistical Costs section, there are a lot of costs involved in producing the magazine and therefore this makes it difficult to initially make a profit. We will offer a range of merchandise to our members that we can make a profit from, which will help us to break even on the printed materials for the initial start-up period, until we can increase our profit margin on the subscription.
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NAKED APE
PRE-FUNDING • • • •
Company registered and website created Kickstarter set up Promotion begins Merchandise designed
W
•
• • • •
• •
TIMELINE The Kickstarter funding goal needs to be met in order for the project to begin. This timeline estimates that it will take a minimum of 9 weeks from achieving the funding to distribute the first issue, while gathering content for future issues in the process.
WEEK 1-5: FUNDING GOAL MET Magazine & box themes and content planned for first 3 months and publishing dates set Part-time employee hired Research, interviews and content creation (plus extra for future issues)
IN PROGRESS
COMMUNITY BUILDING
WEEK 4-6: CREATION
•
• • •
•
Build relationships with creatives and possible sponsors/advertisers Collect information from Kickstarter supporters
• • •
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June content edited and proof-r Advertising material finalised Magazine spreads and novelty it designed Final checks before print Instagram posts, updates and countdown begin Cut-off point for first issue subscribers before printing
TIMELINE
WEEK 6-8: printing Test print First print run sent to Mixam Merchandise manufactured Quality checking
WEEK 9: DISTRIBUTION
WEEK 1O-12: REVIEW
•
• • •
•
•
WEEK 8: PROMOTION
read
•
tems
•
Issue teaser sent to subscribers via email Promotional build-up on Instagram through attention-grabbing shareable posts
Subscriptions posted direct to customers Excess stock sent to independent retailers and creative offices Spotify playlists curated
Next issue production begins Feedback collected Audience response to first issue measured to determine changes to content or print run
WEEK 10: FiRST OF THE MONTH •
Audience begins Naked Ape subscription
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NAKED APE
MEASURING SUCCESS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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Renewal Rate Monthly Revenue Customer Acquisition Feedback Instagram Reach
RENEWAL RATE Renewal rate indicates the proportion of customers who renew their subscription for the next month. This will be calculated on a monthly basis to regularly measure the satisfaction of Naked Ape’s members. In the subscription industry, a 80% renewal rate is considered ‘good’, and this would prove that our services are meeting the needs of our community. If a member chooses to cancel their subscription, they will be asked the reason for this, in order to assess whether our content and strategy needs to be reviewed, or if it is due to reasons out of our control.
MEASURING SUCCESS
Monthly Recurring Revenue
community FEEDBACK
Monthly recurring revenue determines the amount of revenue we can expect to regularly come into the business through paying subscribers. The larger this gets month-by-month, the more financially stable Naked Ape will be as a start-up subscription service. An improving monthly recurring revenue would indicate that we are gaining regular subscribers, or that current subscribers are investing more in Naked Ape (e.g. upgrading to a full subscription as opposed to magazine only).
A crucial part of our success depends on the satisfaction of our members. We will regularly remind customers they can converse with our team via email or social media to let us know what we’re doing right, and what we could improve on. This will allow us to measure Naked Ape’s perceived value frequently and optimise our services to meet their expectations.
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST This is calculated by dividing all costs spent on acquiring more customers, such as marketing expenses, by the number of customers acquired in a given period of time. 3:1 is considered a good benchmark. Measuring this cost will allow us to make sure we are not spending too much to maximise the possibility of profit.
INSTAGRAM REACH & FOLLOWER GROWTH RATE As one of our content strategy goals is to create shareable content that will resonate with a wider audience and entice non-members, we will measure the reach of our posts to see how many non-followers have seen our post through shares or recommendations. We will then measure follower growth rate to understand whether our posts attract genuine interest.
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REFERENCES 1. Wales, J. & Kopel, O., 2021. We’re staying online. In: G. Williams, ed. The Wired World in 2021. London: Conde Nast, p. 23. 2. McKinsey, 2020. What’s next for remote work: An analysis of 2,000 tasks, 800 jobs, and nine countries. [Online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobsand-nine-countries#:~:text=As%20employees%20have%20gained%20experience,percent%20from%20April%20to%20May.&text=One%20 impediment%20to%20 3. Osborne, H., 2021. Home workers putting in more hours since Covid, research shows. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/04/home-workers-putting-in-more-hours-since-covid-research 4. Estrada, S., 2020. Employee burnout remains a major concern for employers. [Online] Available at: https://www.hrdive.com/news/employee-burnout-remains-a-major-concern-for-employers/593071/ 5. Fox, M., 2020. Remote work burnout is growing as pandemic stretches on. Here’s how to manage it. [Online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/remote-work-burnout-is-growing-as-coronavirus-pandemic-stretches-on.html 6. Active Health, n.d.. What are the negative side effects of too much screen time?. [Online] Available at: https://www.activehealth.sg/read/screen-time/what-are-the-negative-side-effects-of-too-much-screen-time#:~:text=Spending%20 long%20hours%20staring%20at,retina%20damage%20and%20blurred%20vision. 7. McCusker, K., 2021. How to overhaul your toxic relationship with your laptop, according to a psychotherapist. [Online] Available at: https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/health-fitness/how-to-take-care-of-your-digital-health-2-727380#:~:text=What%20is%20 digital%20health%3F,to%20technology%2C%E2%80%9D%20says%20Zoe.&text=Digital%20health%20deserves%20the%20same%20kind%20 of%20attention. 54
8. Finder, 2021. UK subscription service statistics Source: https://www.finder.com/uk/subscription-service-statistics Analysis conducted by finder.com/uk. [Online] Available at: https://www.finder.com/uk/subscription-service-statistics 9. Sweet, J., 2020. 10 Wellness Trends You Have To Try In 2021. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonisweet/2021/12/28/10-wellness-trends-you-have-to-try-in-2021/?sh=59b1ae7ed8a8 10. Phillips, J., 2020. Creative Industries vs Mental Health; Is The Suffering Worth the Art?. [Online] Available at: http://blog.lappthebrand.com/2020/03/03/creative-industries-vs-mental-health-is-the-suffering-worth-the-art/ 11. Comparably, 2017. Designers Are the Most Burnt Out Workers in Tech. [Online] Available at: https://www.comparably.com/blog/most-burnt-out/ 12. Digiday, 2019. ‘A crisis boiling under the surface’: Agencies confront employee burnout. [Online] Available at: https://digiday.com/marketing/crisis-boiling-surface-burnout-growing-problem-inside-agencies/#:~:text=Agency%20 staffers%20are%20reporting%20high,worried%20about%20their%20mental%20health.&text=The%20Digiday%20survey%2C%20 done%20of,professionals%20are%20wo 13. American Psychological Association, 2018. Perfectionism Among Young People Significantly Increased Since 1980s, Study Finds. [Online] Available at: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/01/perfectionism-young-people 14. Barringer, D., 2016. Why Perfectionism Kills Creativity and How to Overcome it. [Online] Available at: https://www.adobe.com/express/learn/blog/why-perfectionism-is-a-creativity-killer-and-how-to-overcome-it 55
REFERENCES 15. Gawlik, M. E., 2009. Variables Related to Perfectionism. [Online] Available at: https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/gawlik.htm 16. Spa Executive, 2019. Is wellness too exclusive? Industry leaders respond. [Online] Available at: https://spaexecutive.com/2019/06/27/is-wellness-too-exclusive/ 17. Luna, A., 2021. 11 Warning Signs You’re Practicing Spiritual Materialism. [Online] Available at: https://lonerwolf.com/spiritual-materialism/ 18. Bagby, 2020. 6 Digital Wellbeing Trends To Watch Out For In 2021. [Online] Available at: https://bagby.co/blogs/digital-wellbeing-pills/5-digital-wellbeing-trends-to-watch-in-2021 19. Statista, 2020. Percentage of successfully funded Kickstarter projects as of November 2020. [Online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235405/kickstarter-project-funding-success-rate/ 20. Peeyush Singh, 2020. Unhooking the Drama: Meditation App Statistics to Know in 2020. [Online] Available at: https://appinventiv.com/blog/meditation-app-statistics/
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APPENDICES Appendix A Primary Research: Online Survey
Appendix B It’s Nice That Media Pack
58 72
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Appendix A Primary Research: Online Survey
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59
60
61
62
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65
66
67
68
69
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Appendix B It’s Nice That: Media Pack
72
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Creative Work-Life Balance for Dummies.
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