One of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is to define your brand. Event creators Elyse Fox and Duy Nguyen both credit doing so with helping them become successful founders: Fox is the CEO of Sad Girls Club, a safe space for women of color to diminish the stigma around mental health. Nguyen is the co-founder of Koreatown Run Club, a thriving running community in Los Angeles.
During Eventbrite’s RECONVENE summit, Fox and Nguyen shared tips about how they’ve communicated their events’ distinct point of view through opportunities like merch and collaborations.
Read on for a teaser of key takeaways from Elyse Fox and Duy Nguyen’s talk. For more in-depth insights, watch the full video below:
Ask yourself: What gut feeling do you want attendees to leave with?
Fox hopes that those who attend Sad Girl Club events go home understanding that it’s OK to be vulnerable and that you’re not alone.
Nguyen wants people to head home from running events thinking, “It was intimidating, it was tough, but I did it. I accomplished that.”
Once you’re clear on what gut feeling you want to trigger, you’ll be able to sharpen your mission and messaging accordingly, so there’s no question about who you are and what you’re trying to achieve.
Be consistent on social, and lean into your mission
When you’re thinking about how your brand shows up on social media or online, lead with your point of view, but take the pulse of your community to determine what’s going to resonate with them. Trust your intuition and aim to be consistent across all platforms.
As Fox said, it’s important to understand “who your community is and how their minds are ever-changing with the seasons, and keeping up with that in a way that feels authentic to you and your brand.”
With merch, aim for a balance between what you want to make and what will sell
Koreatown Run Club sells tees, hats, and some accessories. Before you make anything, look at the numbers and figure out how much it will cost to produce and whether people will actually buy it, Nguyen advises. “Sometimes the coolest things you make don’t sell well,” he said. “You don’t want to have to sit on 100 shirts that don’t sell.”
Fox thinks of merch more as a marketing strategy than an income stream. “We’ll send out friends and family packages to get our brand out there,” she said. “Because if you see a shirt with Sad Girls Club on it, you might ask, ‘What does that mean?’”
If you’re partnering with a big brand, remember you can steer the ship
Sad Girls Club has collaborated with big-name brands like Nike and Crocs. It’s important not to get so excited that you lose your vision, Fox said. You should be the one guiding the partnership. “Challenge any partner to do more, because they are investing in your community and you know your community better than anybody else.”
“Walk into the relationship knowing you’re the expert,” Nguyen added. You can tell prospective partners, “This is what works — you guys came to us, and this is how we do it.” Most of the time, he said, they’ll listen.
Stop imposter syndrome in its tracks
If you know in your heart that you should be doing something, don’t let imposter syndrome stand in your way. “It can really diminish creativity,” Fox said. Instead, in moments of doubt, tap someone close that you trust. These are people who will “boost you up” and remind you that your ideas are valuable and needed, she said.
For additional tips from Eventbrite’s ongoing RECONVENE events series, visit our recaps hub.
