BRAND STORY: THE MONTANA SCENE

Case Study: The Montana Scene

Background:
Montana Bear Food was a gift shop and retail store in Bigfork, MT that hired us to rebrand their company. The truth is, they were about to go under, so this was their last effort before calling it quits. They needed to become modern, relevant, and fresh to stay afloat in a hyper-competitive local market and not just keep up with, but beat their competition.

Challenge:
​Starting your own clothing line requires incredible amounts of insight. What will sell, what won’t, how do you keep people coming back for more. Making this type of product stand out in a tourist town is a daunting endeavor. This was their last shot so we knew it was all or nothing.

Approach:
This was a fun one. Montana residents have a huge amount of pride for their state. Slap an outline of the state on anything and you’re bound to sell it. But that’s been done to death in recent years. We needed a new approach.

So we started with changing the name. Montana Bear Food didn’t have any brand loyalty so they needed something that Big Sky residents could get behind. Next came a new logo to encompass the fun, playful attitude that Sean and Melissa bring to the company.

But what’s a store name and a logo if they don’t have anything unique to offer. This is where the fun really began. We got to work on creating a brand new line of clothing designs that paid homage to the state we call home while casting aside the stale designs most other companies have settled on. We made it fresh, bold, and universally appealing.  

Why stop there? These new products were fantastic, and the owners wanted to unveil the designs to the world in the best way they knew — social media. So we kicked off a full frontal assault on the social media world with a campaign of contests, sponsored posts and thoughtfully-curated content to really build their audience. And build it did. Actually, blow up might be a more fitting term. Their Instagram followers and Facebook likes grew exponentially creating a whole new audience for their products that they never new existed. But these people didn’t just want to look at their products — they wanted to wear them. Cue the online store.

These days when we are asked whether or not an online store makes sense, our answer is “duh.” Not really. But in the age of Shopify, online stores have elevated to a level where the hassle of managing orders and inventory is already simplified. We just had to make it look good. So, once again, we went to work building a beautiful online storefront utilizing beautiful imagery and and easy-to-navigate layout.

​With a dash of SEO here and a healthy stream of people making their way over from social media channels, the store took off like a rocket ship.

Results:
Mega success story. Not only has their store in Bigfork risen from the dead, they’ve expanded to a second storefront in Whitefish. Supported by their online store, they’ve successfully become one of the top Montana-themed stores in the entire state.

In Their Words:
“Thanks, Wheelie Creative! You guys are the best thing that has happened to me."
​Melissa Bonnet, Founder, The Montana Scene