Kinetics make high-quality, colourful nail polishes for the retail, professional and salon markets. Unlike their competitors, they’re not afraid to do things a little differently.
Gusts, their Chief Brand Officer, describes it as:
“Our research and development (R&D) department is the heart of our company. Many other companies don’t have their own R&D and don’t produce their own gel polishes, they’ll just import it from elsewhere. We do, and that’s a key point of difference for us.”
This willingness to blaze their own trail in the industry can be seen in their branding, too. With elegant lines and a refined aesthetic, Kinetics set themselves apart from the competition and highlight the quality of their products.
With their distinctive branding, it’s important Kinetics maintain their brand integrity across every customer touchpoint.
But when working with distributors across 40 countries who create their own materials on-the-fly, staying on brand can be a challenge.
Google Drive wasn’t working for the brand's distributors
Before using Dash and Corebook°, Kinetics kept all their assets and PDF style guides on Google Drive. The company's distributors had access to the drive, but often had trouble finding the right files.
As Julija, who works as the brand’s Project Management System Analyst, explains:
“We had a Google Drive that all the clients and distributors had access to. It had a complicated structure and it often resulted in files not being uploaded to the correct folder, or having duplicate files across several folders.”
Gusts adds:
“We needed a brand hub which brought our brand guidelines and assets together.”
So Kinetics set out to find a solution to maintain their brand identity while giving distributors access to the assets they need. They found what they were looking for with Corebook° and Dash.
Ditching the old PDF style guide for Corebook°
Corebook° is a platform that allows brands to create online brand guidelines that can be easily updated in real time and shared with whomever you like, while at the same time retaining granular access control and privacy options. It’s exactly the thing Kinetics were looking for.
As Gusts explains:
“Our distributors around the world work independently creating their own materials. But, before Corebook°, they didn’t have clear guidelines to make sure they were keeping on brand. We used to have a PDF file but — to be honest — they just ignored it.”
From Corebook°, distributors can easily access latest brand assets that are inline with relevant information without losing context. . Here’s what it looks like:
But often their distributors aren’t just after brand assets like fonts and logos. They also need photography like product images to put together the materials they need.
And for that, they looked for a digital asset management (DAM) system.
Creating a searchable library of product images with Dash
Gusts and Julija shortlisted DAMs, including Dash. But to first get pricing information from Dash’s competitors they had to book a call, only to find out the costs were too expensive.
Not so with Dash. As Julija says:
“We appreciated that both Dash and Corebook° immediately put their prices on display. The pricing was clear and made us feel both tools are honest and trustworthy.”
And when Kinetics found both systems could work together, they were sold. Gusts explains:
“We saw we could combine Corebook° and Dash to create a one-stop shop for brand identity and digital assets. That was the main reason we picked both tools.
They’re now using Dash to organise, find and use product photography and brand assets.
“We have around 500 polishes or so. With Dash, we can keep all of our product assets in one place. That includes images of the polish bottle, colour splashes and manicure shots.”
Kinetics have created custom fields in Dash to sort assets by campaign and product type. It lets distributors find what they need quickly.
Would they recommend Dash? Gusts says:
“Yes! Dash is easy to understand and it’s very user-friendly. When you start to use it it’s really up-to-date and modern. This certainly isn’t a dinosaur DAM in need of a visual face-lift.”
Building an online brand hub with Corebook° and Dash
Kinetics have used the Corebook° and Dash integration to build a one-stop shop for all their brand assets. Here’s how it works.
First, distributors visit their brand hub hosted on Corebook°. From logo specifications to tone of voice, this contains everything you’d expect a style guide to include.
Now, say they want to download a logo in a specific format. This is where the integration comes in. When you’re building your Corebook°, you can link an asset on your Dash to its equivalent on Corebook°. When you hover over the logo, for instance, you can see you’re able to download it in different formats.
For access to product assets, Kinetics created a custom page on Corebook° prompting distributors to log in to Dash.
Combining Dash and Corebook° like this is an effective way to ensure Kinetics’ partners have everything they need. And in so doing, Gusts and his team are able to maintain the integrity of their brand - even as distributors from around the world are creating their own materials on the fly.
As Julija says:
“Having Dash and Corebook° means we’re using modern solutions, embracing technology and putting an emphasis on our visual identity. They both add positively to our brand image.”
Kinetics achieved what they set out to do with Dash and Corebook°. In Gusts’s words:
“We’ve managed to create a one-stop shop for assets and brand identity. It makes a lot of sense to keep assets and guidelines in one place. More people are becoming acquainted with our brand guidelines and you can now download assets directly from our guidelines.”
So, are you ready to ditch your Drive and old PDF style guide? You can take out a free trial for both Corebook° and Dash to see what you think. If you'd like to set up the integration to see how our two products work together, just let us know!
