B-SIDE
POWERED BY
Your City. Your Story.
The daily dose of news you actually want to hear.
The B-Side is a voicey meme machine, created for the Gen-Z audience. Delivering a fresh take on journalism and spicing up the ouvré of the iconic 150-year-old Boston Globe. With entertaining and relevant vertical content this new channel provides the inside scoop on local happenings and global going-ons across their social channels and daily email newsletter. The product of a Boston Globe hackathon, it’s a novel take on journalism with unapologetic spunk and trending energy.
In other words– issa whole vibe 👏.
THE STRATEGY
We had the pleasure of working with the team of visionary new media mavens and ambitious young journalists to create their brand strategy and brand identity along with messaging, vibe and content strategy.
In search of a way to integrate a fresh social first strategy into the publication, we lead with the question:
How can we excite younger audiences and deliver the high-quality journalism The Boston Globe is celebrated for?
Luckily, brand reinvigoration is our jam at OH! Art Agency.
We constructed a 3-Part Strategy Session Workshop tailored to the goals and audience of B-Side. Each 2-hour session prepared the newly-formed team for launch and developed a killer brand-building framework.
SESSION I: BRAND FOUNDATIONS
Part 1 consisted of diving into the mission, vision and purpose of B-Side– the big WHY? Through systematic team-building exercises, Olivia initiated a process that would allow each team member to build off their strengths and understand how to collaborate effectively as a dynamic squad. Incorporating a youthful format into each session to match the experimental essence of B-Side, OH! Guided B-Side to discover their brand pillars, values and mission statement:
“The daily dose of news you actually want to hear.”
SESSION II: POSITIONING & PEOPLE
Part 2 gets into the knitty-gritty of the competitive landscape and investigating the market, asking–
How can B-Side stand out in the infinite ocean that is social media? Who is our ideal target audience and how do we reach them?
Through some savvy detective work, Olivia analyzed key trends in this digital sphere, leading to the collective creation of the target persona– an in-depth profile of the specific individual B-Side must speak to. From this, the team then established their brand personality– i.e. a lesson on tone of voice, what slang to use (& not to use! Gen Z have a fine tuned phony-radar), and the overall culture. Your vibe attracts your tribe.
SESSION III: IDENTITY & VIBE
By identifying B-Side’s differentiating factors, the “special sauce,” Olivia and the team then brought visualizations to life producing the ultimate influencer. From the overall mood and brand color palette, to the fonts and logo–
B-Side’s style guide is a fresh manifesto of how to turn a simple idea into a social media powerhouse
The team plotted out goals and a timeline (1 year from now? How ‘bout 5?) Strategically focusing on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter content, OH! Also fashioned the newsletter taxonomy as a direct avenue to followers.
THE GRAND FINALE
Olivia’s creative direction materialized into branding that is authentic, relatable and speaks with the zeal of the next generation of audiences.
Opting for a hip and unapologetically bold energy, B-side is a pinnacle of brand strategy.
KIND WORDS
“Just an amazing and transformative process. Would recommend 10/10! We not only have a beautiful, consistent aesthetic, but more importantly, a team that feels empowered through the brand-building process. We're now ready to show our baby to the world and watch it grow.”
ANDREW GRILLO
THE BOSTON GLOBE
"The depth of brand clarity we have was our guiding light during a hectic launch. The foundation of The B-Side is in a very strong place because of you and we're excited to refine and evolve over time!
We’ve seen consistent growth and massive conversion because we intimately know our audience and the unique realness factors that differentiate us in a crowded creator market."
EMILY SCHARIO
THE BOSTON GLOBE
If you’re ready to elevate your big idea, schedule a free introductory discovery call.
We’d love to hear what you’re working on and see how we can help, give us a shout 💌curious@ohartagency.com
LET’S CONNECT
@olivia.ives.flores @ohartagency
