Our interview with Sked Social Stars, Budgy Smuggler, and how they use Instagram to tell their brand story.
Budgy Smuggler is Australian for Swimwear, and we're on a mission to free the thighs of the world.
It all began as a bit of a joke in 2003 with some mates in a backyard writing 'budgy smuggler' on the back of a pair of Speedo-style Swimwear - and it seems to have stuck!
Now operating out of offices in Sydney and London we design and make all of our Swimwear in Australia; we do Womens, Kids, Activewear and Accessories as well. We pride ourselves on making a quality product, not taking ourselves too seriously and having a laugh.
With our Marketing we try to focus more on brand building and 'sharing the Smuggling love' as opposed to just pushing product and trying to 'sell' all the time. Around the beginning of the year I noticed a big theme around Zodiac signs and Astrology. People have a serious love of Smuggling so I wanted to come up with a campaign that felt personalised for each person. As mentioned, Budgy is all about not taking things too seriously and maintaining a sense of humour - so I took each Zodiac sign and made up a few cheeky and facetious character traits, and matched them with one of our prints. The premise was, "Not sure which pair to buy next? Follow the stars..." and based on your Zodiac sign, your next pair was determined for you.
It was largely sent as an email campaign; there was a 35%+ open rate and it was sent to anyone who had engaged with our emails in the last 2 years. When shared on Instagram stories there was an increase in positive engagement, a lot of responses sharing their agreement/their 'horror' or telling us in fact they did own that pair!
Our focus is on sharing remarkable content that makes people feel something. Mostly we want to entertain people, make them laugh and make them feel good about themselves. We want to share the love of Smuggling; to let people know that they don't need to be any shape or size to wear our Swimwear. In a practical sense we're focusing a lot of time on video content at the moment and growing our TikTok.
I use Sked to schedule all Instagram content and have done for the last 3 years. I find it super easy to use, reliable and I appreciate how quickly Sked keep up to date with Instagram changes and features.
We're expanding our Australian made products: think Hats, Clothing, Socks and Underwear. We're also focusing on growing our presence in the US and in Europe, in particular France. Later this year we're holding our annual Ordinary Rig competition where we search for the UK, France and Australia's Most Ordinary Rig.
Check out the Budgy Smuggler website and their Instagram.
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