Sort Kat Tattoo: Exam Project

Kick-Off

The introduction to this Exam project was presented by Rasmus and Marc. They went through what the project entails, their expectations, and went thoroughly over the project description. This project focuses on working on both a finished product and a report, throughout most of the semester. We are to find a business, reach out to them to inquire about their SoMe presence and if they need help or assistance increating a stronger presence or something else along those lines. 

My group was the same as the last semester consisting of Rama and Alexandra along with a new addition Camille. Prior to actually starting the project we all sat down to go through the team contract to share our expectations, work ethics, and boundaries. I felt this was especially important as the past other group projects I have worked on somewhat failed, so communicating the way we work was important. Luckily it didn’t scare off Camille, and knowing Rasmus had talked very highly of her, I was not in any doubt.

A project plan was also immediately created to ensure that we can manage our meeting times accordingly but also many surgeries were happening then from my group. This project plan has always been used effectively and considering this project will last over several months this was essential.

Asana was also set up immediately to get an overview of the overall sprints we would have over the duration of the project and assign and divide tasks when needed.

Sprint 1 (19 August – 1 September)

In this particular sprint our main goal was to contact/find companies to work with. Our goal was to contact as many companies as possible with sufficient or not so strong social media presence and perhaps could use some assistance. We kept our search within Odense to ensure convenience and accessibility. 

I had a few businesses I wanted to contact but it took some time for me to think of anything. I first went onto google maps and just browsed around to see what was around us and check their online presence. The more I browse online the more I get inspired. I reached out to Chicago Burger, A Olympia (Boxing Club), Tennis Club Odense, and Faraos Cigarer. Take for example Chicago Burger, a restaurant chain local to Odense with great burgers but a not so appealing website design and some presence. None of this business got back to me…

However I was fortunate enough that my group members also contacted many places. We were able to arrange meetings with Sort Kat Tattoo, June Bar, Ballet Skolen, Carl Nielsen Museum, and All or Nothing Tattoo. Though meetings were all arranged we only went to three of them.  Prior to the meeting questions were made in advance to understand who the client was, their business concept, which areas of the online world they use, the help/assistance they need, and other small useful information. 

1. Sort Kat Tattoo – 6 September

Alexandra was the one who found Sort Kat Tattoo and reached out. Sort Kat Tattoo is a very unique and cool tattoo studio that isn’t what you would typically expect. They are appointments based only, AI-free art, LBGTQ+ friendly, judgement free zone, and welcoming tattoo studio. They offer both tattoo and piercings, and have a cosy themed tattoo studio that anyone there comes to appreciate. 

The first time meeting here was very good. We hit it off immediately and she was very interested in our project. It was such a coincidence that the owner Thit also studied multimedia design and was very familiar with our line of study and work. The meeting was super organised and that can be due to her being a graduate of multimedia design she knows our process and how we think. The expectations, the goals, everything was clearly communicated and I felt we made a very good impression on her and her on us. 

2. Carl Nielsen Museum – 9 September

To be honest, I have not heard of this museum before, but one of the group members reached out to Odense Museum first writing that we were more specifically interested in the carl nielsen museum. The one we were in contact with was surprised with us, but we explained to her it’s because they don’t have much on their website. 

The meeting went okay with the client. She was very interested in what our project entails and if a cooperation was possible. She went on to explain the history of the museum, why it wasn’t so well established like their other counterparts and what they needed help on. Her main goal was to get more young people into the museum and know more about the Danish Composer Carl Nielsen. However I felt that this was not going to be a good fit for us. For myself I had a hard time trying to feel motivated if this were to be our exam project, and found it potentially challenging pursuing something that was not of interest to me. Considering the fact that it is a months on end project I needed a more interesting and fun client. 

This is not to bash the museum at all. I love going to museums as I am a history nerd and love to learn about everything and anything, but the connection just wasn’t there.

3. June Bar – 10 September

Our last meeting was with a bar known in Odense. I don’t go out at all so I was completely clueless as to what was going on. However when we met with the client he explained to us the concept of June Bar. A place where you can sit down and enjoy cocktails but also dance. He explained that he felt there wasn’t any place in Odense where you could do both and wanted to create a place where it could happen. He also went on to explain that one of the main things he wanted help was to attract more people to stay at the bar and drink, instead of bar hopping. Their website and social media presence was minimal. 

After our meeting with the three clients we sat down as a group to argue who we would choose for and why. It was pretty much instant that the majority went towards Sort Kat, just because it was a fun client to work with and she has an amazing studio. But we were also conflicted if we should take June Bar as they had minimal presence which meant more freedom for us to work. 

We consulted our teachers and they basically said it was up to us. We agreed on taking Sort Kat on as a Client and reached back to her, hoping she would accept us too. 

Sprint 2 (2 – 15 September)

In this sprint the primary focus was getting back to the two other clients we met and kindly rejecting the cooperation and thanking them for their time. We also wrote a detailed mail to Thit the owner of Sort Kat expressing our eagerness to work with her. And hopefully she would feel the same way too. 

Questions were also drafted to gain a deeper understanding of Sort Kats needs and wants as well as them as a business.

Sprint 3 (16 – 29 September)

In order to set a clear direction in this project we needed to finish the problem formula. This was done by setting up another Meeting with Thit. Here we learned more about how her business functions, who stands behind the content they post on social media, and what they needed help with. We learned that Thit primarily made the content for Sort Kat when she had the time. Thit is the owner, on top of that she does both tattooing and office work throughout the week. Her main struggle was trying to make consistent and concise content. She mentioned that taking the content wasn’t the problem, but how to approach it and incorporate her values more into the video. Her studio is based around inclusivity for all types of people, a judgement free zone, and overall a fun place to be. 

On top of that she wanted to bring more people into the studio via bookings or through events but more importantly make her studio values more well known. 

Based on all the information we collected we finally were able to create and agree on a problem formula. We also kept in mind that it could change, but this is what we have for now.

Problemformulering 

Hvordan kan Sort Kat udvikle og opretholde en effektiv social medie tilstedeværelse der afspejler deres kerneværdier og sikrer en sammenhængende samt let vedligeholdt kommunikation?

Underspørgsmål 

1. Hvilke budskaber bør Sort Kat fremhæve for at tydeliggøre virksomhedens kerneværdier på sociale medier?
2.  Hvilke strategier kan Sort Kat Tattoo anvende for at effektivisere vedligeholdelsen af deres SoMe-indhold? 
3. Hvordan kan virksomheden effektivt måle og evaluere effekten af de implementerede tiltag med et relativt lavt tidsforbrug?

Once we had a problem formula set into place we entered our research and analysis phase. Our plan was to collect instagram insights from her account to see which posts perform well and why, as well as access to her meta. 

We collected the following information from her insights, the top 5 best performing posts and 5 lowest performing posts in all categories.

1. All Content
   • Accounts Reach 
   • Accounts Engaged
   • Views
2. Posts
   • Comments
   • Impressions
   • Reach
   • Views
   • Followers
   • Likes
   • Saves
3. Reels
   • Comments
   • Reach
   • View
   • Likes
   • Saved
4. Stories
   • Address Taps
   • Impression
   • Reach
   • Follows
   • Likes
   • Views

I organised all the screenshots we took into organised files so analysing them can be easier in the next sprint.

Sprint 4 (30 September – 12 October)

This sprint focused on collecting data from both questionnaires and interviews. Creating an interest analysis on the company, and creating the VPC and BMC, and analysing all data. 

Gaining information on Sort Kat is vital so a questionnaire was sent out and posted on their instagram. We asked questions about their preferences, their priorities in which they look at when getting a tattoo, cleanliness and hygiene, inspiration, and their age and occupation. The questionnaire was posted primarily on Sort Kats Instagram directly to gain information from her follower base, along with other tattoo forums and groups online within Denmark. 

During the week we were able to rack up 200 responses in total which allowed us to create a pretty in depth analysis and creation of the VPC and BMC. We all sat down as a group and went through the results and analysed it in our own ways. We followed the instructions on how to properly make the VPC and BMC. 

First with the VPC we looked into the customer segment: their gain, pain, and customer jobs. We filled it out according to what data we received from the questionnaire results. For example if you take transport for customer jobs a pain for that would be travel time but given that Sort Kat is central to Odense and accessible with transport a gain would be accessibility. A similar style was done when making the value map, but instead of focusing on the customer we focused on Sort Kats services. Information, values, and brand identity. 

Once the VPC was done we moved onto the BMC model. Part of the BMC model was finished ahead of time by my two teammates to better allocate our time and effort. But I took on the task to finish it off and add missing information. At the end I consulted my team to see if they agree with the extra points I made, and they were. 

Most of the information in the 9 segments were straight forward, but for the segment key partners we had to inquire Thit (Sort Kat Owner) to exactly who that could be. We were stuck for some time about Guest Artist and how they functioned within the business model. At first we assumed everything went through Thit, but upon further investigation they followed the same business concept as other in-house tattoo artists (that they rent out a space from Thit). 

A Interest analysis was also made on Sort Kat. Made all together we agreed on where the different circles would be, how big they would be, and in which segment they fell under. Similar to the BMC Guest Artist confused us but after clarification from This we were able to complete it. 

Sprint 5 (14 – 27 October)

Our final part of the analysis phase was analysing the instagram insights. I made it a little easier for the group to analyse everything by organising all the screenshots according to the post type, metrics, and if they were performing good or bad. We all agreed that if one person were to analyse it, it would be way too much. We divided the different sections among us. I was responsible for analysing the posts and all the metrics excluding comments and follows. An interesting thing I found which others also found too was that Sort Kats hand made posters for their events or statements performed exceptionally well, but the posts of tattoos not so much. My theory behind this was the pictures were posted back to back within a short time frame which resulted in viers skipping through and giving low engagement. Another thing I noticed was many posts of the guest artist also did not perform as well and this can be due to being a different aesthetic to Sort Kat, the picture being very dark and hard to see, and out of place.

Everyone compared their findings together and we all reached common findings as I mentioned before. Based on the analysis of all the information we have collected we were able to construct a persona. 

We also divided tasks to work further on content frameworks. I was responsible for Content Frameworks. I wasn’t present in class when it was introduced to us, but based on the slides provided from Rasmus I had a general idea of my task. I based the framework based on our BMC, our posts analysis, and other information we have received from Thit. If we take a deeper look into one of the sections Videns-deling (Vi deler info indenfor vores område) the Content concept within those would be based on tattoos and piercings. Then my team member later refined them into the types of posts we would see on Sort Kats feed:

• Events / Walk in
• Piercings
• Thursday Flash / Available Designs 
• Recent works by…

For KPI put the regular hints you would expect on social media, but they were later refined to each post so for recent work it would be reach and bookings. This concept itself would make the majority (65%) of Sort Kats feed. The Sender would obviously be Sort Kat, while the recipients would be piercings and tattoo enthusiasts, new and existing customers, the tattoo community, local followers, and walk-in visitors.

A new one would be made with the group later on in the process as we gain more understanding.

Sprint 6 (28 October – 10 November)

After a long grueling analysis phase we finally entered the content creation phase. I was just glad to work with something more creative and not analysing more stuff. 

Prior to any creation of content, a brainstorm session was made. We were through each concept we had and wrote what we thought could be cool to make a video or post about. Some ideas I came up with were a Cat Hunt video under Studio content. Some videos I come across in my tiktok are these carousel posts in which you play a game of hide and seek in 3 levels. Each level gets harder to find the object and thought this would be a very engaging and fun video to make. Another idea I had was a ‘Choose your Character’ style video in which we present the staff in a video game intro kind of way also inspired from a tik tok video. I leaned more towards content not directly involving tattoos as Thit the owner already posts so much about finished tattoos and tattoo related things that I wanted to bring more contrasting content, but also I would be completely drained of ideas if I had to do anything with tattoos to be fair. 

We took a vote at the end to see which ideas should be made into videos and I took the Cat Hunt Video and Things We Love About Sort Kat. Once I was sure this is something I wanted to create content for I started creating a storyboard to visualise my process. 

The day we got to the studio I got right to work. Capture as much content as I could as well as other random stuff I felt called to. I followed my plan but also made ones on the spot as I went around the studio. I took lots of photos of the studios facilities as there weren’t many pictures showing it or the videos that did were very short. I also took pictures of this pinboard they had with polaroids and messages as I thought it was really cute to show the family connection they have. 

I am easily hyper focused so I was able to shoot all my content quickly and already start editing. I started first on colour grading all the photos I had to give more of their studios vibe in the picture through lightroom. They were taken in broad daylight and needed altering. The video clips were also colour graded but through premiere pro. I was really stuck on the type of music to use as I feel like it could be anything, but luckily there was music playing in the studio the whole time so when I thought one of the songs would fit well in a video I wrote down the song name. The text overlays in the video were down on cap cut as they have lots of fonts to choose from, but also in the future if This were to recreate it, it can be easily done through this.

When content creation was done I worked on post specifications In which I specified the type of post it is, the captions, music, hashtags, and all those little formalities. With copywriting I focused on the majority which is the 5P approach, budskab design, the frameworks we used from class and others. 

Once everyone was done editing and putting up the post specifications we put it all in a folder and sent it to Thit. We asked her to choose a minimum of 3 and post them throughout the week, but we made the mistake of not handing her an inholdsplan which we completely forgot. 

The first post she put up was on a sunday night. I just finished Church service and was waiting for the letbane to come and saw my video got posted. I was in shock as I didnt feel my video was good or anything of that sort, but I was proud to say the least. 

In this time also we worked a bit on the report. The models we have worked on should be written in the report so the information and analysis is still fresh in our minds. I also had the responsibility of setting up indesign but did not do much visually just the foundations such as setting up the settings for headings, subheadings, body, captions, and so on. 

Sprint 7 (11 – 24 November)

This sprint is to focus on report work. I was responsible for the sections afgræsning, minerva model, BMC, delkonklusion af analyse, pre production, post production, first iteration, and the second iteration. Then there are 4 sections we worked on together. 

Writing these sections can be tricky because Danish isn’t my strongest written language so I put as much effort as I possibly could. Of course there were words I could not translate at all or felt weird to use so I asked chat and my boyfriend which words made sense to use. 

If we dive deeper into the minerva model, I did a lot of research before writing anything because I had written anything that I know 50% of. I made sure I understood what it was, why we use it, how we used it, and how it benefited us. I later used this research and understanding to write the afgræsning in which we talked about grønomstilling which we did not directly prioritise in this project. However indirectly we did through the minerva model and certain values the studio has in which you can read in the report.

I also worked on a second iteration for the video. After getting insights and analysing how the first video performed I was pleased to know it was very very engaging. According to my analysis, even though it has lower metrics compared to an older and similar video, the metrics collected within the week were impressive and can potentially grow and exceed the old video. However in my analysis I found that the skip rate was high, laying around 60%. This needed to be fixed. I did not have any hook to begin with at all so for my improvements I aimed to create a stronger hook, and I did this by implementing cat noise. Another thing I did was create a seamless video, removing any harsh endings to make the audience feel the story is flowing smoothly. The last thing I did was add a new CTA within the video at the end encouraging viewers to book with the studio. Improving on these small yet significant things within the video will allow more engagement and retention within the audience which in turns allow for the video to perform better. 

Last Tasks Before Hand In (25 – 28 November)

We all sat together to see which things were missing. The report was done and just needed to be read through for grammatical mistakes and comprehension. We also looked at all the figures and illustrations to make sure they were all on theme. We divided up the tasks so we could use our time efficiently. I was responsible for setting the report up in design, Rama was to finish the client report for our client, and Camille and Alex were to proofread the report. 

Reflection

Overall this project was ok, I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. I talked to my dad about this project quite a lot and he taught me a good lesson that in the real world when working we are not always going to enjoy the types of projects we get put on. Regardless if the project aligns with your values or not work needs to get done.