Blog Post 3

The content on the Instagram and Facebook pages are aggregated, so identical posts are found on both platforms. Most of the posts are original, but there are others that are co-created with social media influencers. 

The platforms reflect the brand’s visual aesthetic and identity through their use of line-specific colors. Each of their product lines has a different color; their Natural Acne Solutions line is teal, and their Naturally Clean hand care line is yellow. Each corresponding post uses colors that match these product lines so that one could tell which post has the products he or she is looking for at a quick glance. 

The platforms reflect the brand’s mission because nature is infused in their posts. One picture of a chapstick has plants and flowers laid out behind it, while another has strawberries filling the white space. Another post, featuring the dragonfruit lemon chapstick, has the fruits posed behind the product. The brand’s personality is reflected through its fun colors, but also through fun posts. There are some more typical posts, like the ones described, but that’s not all. For #NationalLoveYourPetDay, the brand posted a picture of an adorable dog in a shower cap, posed next to Burt’s Bees pet products. Another post features an aesthetic photo of someone’s desk setup, including a chapstick. The brand also incorporates influencers into their posts, featuring Tik Toks and photos of these influencers using and discussing Burt’s Bees products in a fun, trendy way. 

Both platforms allow users to comment, share and message the company. However, Facebook also has a separate section where customers are allowed to share their reviews, whether good or bad. “Brands need to make it easy for customers to share the good stuff and be agile and effective in response to the things that go wrong; to err is human, but to be contemptuous of your customers is a sin that won’t so easily be forgiven,” (Bailey, 12). Customers often quickly spot if companies are deleting negative comments, which creates distrust. Burt’s Bees does not do this, as both negative and positive comments are available online. However, oftentimes companies use customer review forums to collect good feedback and respond in a helpful way to negative feedback. Burt’s Bees does not acknowledge these comments at all. 

One way Facebook fosters a community for Burt’s Bees is through its review page. Although the company itself does not respond to reviews, people can respond to each other, answering people’s questions or commenting to agree or disagree. Atkins mentions that “Using your community of users to answer each other’s questions can save dollars spent on customer support staff,” (79). However, this community does not seem to be helpful for Burt’s Bees, as the reviews with the most activity are the ones that are negative. Facebook also has a community page where instead of posting reviews, customers can share images and wordy posts on the company’s page and view others’ posts. However, not many of the posts seem to get much activity from other customers.

Blog Post 2

The primary color that Burt’s Bees uses is yellow. Yellow is often a color that brands steer from because of its brightness, but Burt’s Bees uses a neutral yellow, in between light and dark. The color yellow will remind their customers of the warmer seasons and of sunflowers, which Burt’s Bees often incorporate onto their packaging. Bees are very attracted to sunflowers, so this ties in the most important element of their brand. Their logo itself is a red emblem, reading “Burt’s Bees” with a line above and below it. “Emblems are trademarks featuring a shape inextricable connected to the name of the organization. The elements are never isolated,” (Wheeler 64). Although their name is written in all caps, the rest of the fonts on their products are light and gentle, which balances these elements out. 

Burt’s Bees fits into the wholesomeness archetype: “... somebody who loves nature, who has an affinity for nature, who is in touch with nature and who wants things to be as nature intended.” This connects with the brand’s visual identity because all of their products have flower and nature designs on them, reflecting natural ingredients that are actually found in that products. 

The company’s slogan is “True to Nature.” Their use of the color yellow and their incorporation of different flowers, as previously mentioned, allude to their mission to use what nature has given them and to give back to nature. Their pictorial mark of a bee ties their visual identity in with their history, starting with a few products made from beeswax. “A pictorial mark uses a literal and recognizable image. The image itself may allude to the name of the company or its mission, or it may be symbolic of a brand attribute,” (Wheeler 60).

The visual identity of Burt’s Bees products connect to the brand story because of how soft and natural their imagery is. “If told as a genuine story, the founding story can create a great connection between a brand and its followers, even if the brand goes back 250 years,” (Simmons 48). The story behind Burt’s Bees is that both of the company’s founders left their city lives for the quiet space of Maine. It is there that the pair met, where one of them became a beekeeper and the other began to make products out of beeswax. While many other skincare and makeup products have a very industrial look to them (see below), Burt’s Bees products are pretty, but also more plain and simple because they care more about what is in the product than what their product looks like.

Because the color yellow is so incorporated into Burt’s Bees products, it gives off a happy emotion. The personality of the brand also gives off a happy feeling because it is clear just by looking at the products that Burt’s Bees clearly cares about what they sell and what they put into their products, especially when considering they have different designs depending on the ingredient.

Blog Post 1

For this assignment, I chose Burt’s Bees. I personally like the products they make, knowing that the company uses natural ingredients and that their packaging is recyclable. I recently discovered that Burt’s Bees has a partnership program with Terracycle. With this program, you can mail in Burt’s Bees branded packaging to be professionally recycled; this alone encourages me to purchase more Burt’s Bees products in the future. 

The mission of this brand is to use ingredients from nature, refrain from animal testing, use responsible sourcing, create recyclable packaging and respect nature. This information can be found on the About Us page. Burt’s Bees was founded by Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby. The two of them had left their city jobs for a more fulfilling life when they met in Maine. Burt taught Roxanne about beekeeping, his new job, and Roxanne began to turn the wax into products. According to their website, “Roxanne used to say that since we take from nature, we must respect and preserve it. Today, we follow in her and Burt’s footsteps by using the best ingredients from nature, and in turn respecting nature so we can all live well.” 

Burt’s Bees sells natural facial care, makeup, lip care, body and hair care products. They also have CBD and “Baby and Mama” product lines. Burt’s Bees biggest competitors are Honest Beauty, Innisfree and Kiehl's. Burt’s Bees differentiates itself from the competition through reasonable pricing. Their prices are similar, if not slightly lower than, to Honest Beauty but are much cheaper than Innisfree and particularly Kiehl’s, whose products can sell for $50 or more. They also stand out by having a common theme among their products. Not every item that they make is sourced from beeswax; however, they have branded this theme across their packaging. This consistency helps with brand recognition. “Brand recognition is also essential for successful product packaging because consumers need to be able to correctly recognise the packaging and therefore identify and purchase the product,” (Lalounis 29). 

Burt’s Bees website prominently features a link to how they are helping their community and makes it extremely easy to access information about the brand’s environmental sustainability. This brand is perceived by the public as trustworthy, respectable and responsible because of how honest and passionate they are about the ingredients they use, where their ingredients are sourced and how much of their packaging is recyclable. “Behind every successful brand are passionate leaders who inspire others to see the future in a new way,” (Wheeler 36). There are plenty of natural brands, but not every one of them is passionate about their products and giving back to nature like Burt’s Bees. They are successful because they inspire consumers to care about nature and sustainability, which consumers direct towards purchasing Burt’s Bees products.