DESIGN A BRAND IDENTITY CLASS 02

Write an Airtight Creative Brief

with Courtney Eliseo of En Route Workshop

Sample Client Questionnaire

What is your business name?
Brooklyn Fish Market

Which industry does your business operate in?

Food & Beverages

Where are you located?

Brooklyn, NY

Tell us about your big plans for the future.

Brooklyn Fish Market will focus on premium shellfish, perhaps with some expansion to
finfish. It will drive growth in consumer-drive retail and online sales. The brand may grow to
multiple retail outlets, either stand alone locations or co-branded partnerships with other
companies or other delivery methods. We're open ended and flexible, depending on which
business aspects we see as having the greatest potential for growth.

Are your target customers male or female?

Both Male and Female

How old are your target customers?

18 – 74

What is their socioeconomic status?

Upper class
Middle class
Skilled working class

Are there specific traits, characteristics or personality types that you see as being
unique or common to your ideal customer base?
Target Audience 1:
Jessica Hoyt is a 33 year old graphic designer with a master’s degree from RISD. She works
in a co-working space in downtown Brooklyn with other creative professionals, and she has
lived in Clinton Hill for two years. She follows food and lifestyle blogs, and regularly attends
and interacts with friends and co-workers who are interested in food culture and trends.
While she does not cook dinner every night, she enjoys cooking on weekends, particularly
for friends and small parties. She considers herself an adventurous eater, and spends much
of her disposable income on food and travel experiences. She is active on social media,
using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for both personal and professional
purposes. She uses Apple products for her technology needs. When she needs
recommendations on what to purchase, she turns to friends and her social media network,
combined with online research. She is known among her friends as a social maven and
in-the-know connector. Where possible, she likes supporting independent NYC-based
businesses, and is willing to pay a small premium to support businesses with compelling
narratives. Her food experiences are just as much about the pleasure of eating as social
cache and subtle bragging rights.

Target Audience 2:
Erwin Chang is a 45 year old insurance agent with an associate’s degree in accounting from
Baruch College. He has been living in Maspeth for 12 years with his wife and two middle
school age children. He first encountered W&T Seafood products by finding them in the
frozen cases at Asian supermarkets, then looked up the company website to discover that
W&T Seafood also carries oysters and other live shellfish. Erwin's cultural upbringing led to
his interest in seafood. Hehe grew up eating seafood regularly, and the rest of his extended
family also appreciates seafood. He knows that fresh seafood is difficult to come by, and
believes W&T Seafood to have high quality products because they are a wholesaler with the
volume to sustain inventory turnover. While he could purchase cheaper shellfish in
Chinatown or Flushing markets, he is willing to pay a small premium to purchase directly
from W&T Seafood, especially since the oyster selection is so much more diverse than at
retail markets. He is happy to drive to pick up his order, and prefers ordering by the
100-count bag for the best price break. He is willing to spend money for high quality food
experiences, but is generally frugal about other things. Erwin has a Facebook account,
which he uses in limited amounts, mostly to keep in touch with close friends and family. He
uses an Android phone and the Chrome browser on a Windows PC. When he needs
recommendations, he asks for help from family members and coworkers, supplemented by
online research. He sometimes reads the Chinese-language newspaper World Journal or
listens to Chinese radio station WZRC 1480.

What benefit can you provide these customers that they can’t obtain elsewhere?
We are shellfish specialists, and provide variety that is difficult to find elsewhere. We have a
30 year heritage in seafood distribution and offer knowledge, transparency and narratives
about our products.

In addition, we offer lifestyle information to help you incorporate seafood into your life: How
to set up a raw bar, how to host a party, how to use seafood in a simple, accessible meal for
the home cook.

How will they find and learn about your brand?

Store
Website
Social media
Ratings & reviews
Emails
Events
Who do you consider to be your primary competition? Locally? Nationally?
Full Line Distributors:
Lobster Place
Wild Edibles
Pierless Fish
Gotham Seafood

Shellfish Specialists:
Blue Island
Island Creek
Righteous Foods
Pangea
Penn Cove

Full Line Sustainable Distributor:

Sea 2 Table
Dock to Dish
Sustainable Consumer:
Village Fishmonger
Mermaid Garden

Who do you see as competitors over the long-term as you grow?

Online grocers/retailers such as Fresh Direct and Amazon Fresh. Currently, the retailers
who have nailed the logistics of transporting perishable goods are not known for offering
high quality and varied seafood, but this may change in the future.

What do you feel makes you different?

The seafood industry is known for mislabeling and dishonesty. We are different because we
care, not just about our customers, but also our suppliers and farmers. We care about
building long-term relationships, and want to be perceived as honest and genuine. We have
a sound reputation within the industry and among the public.

The seafood industry has a reputation for being full of traditional, old school vendors. We
are forward thinking and constantly striving to improve. We see modern food culture and
its holistic focus on diversity, nutrition and ecology as here to stay, not a fad. On the other
hand, Brooklyn Fish Market is not about marketing buzzwords like sustainability and green.

How do you want your competitors to view your business?

We don't want to viewed as a threat. We want harmonious relationships with our
competitors, and recognize that we each have something to offer.

We would like to be respected, knowledgeable, and a staunch supporter of the growth of

our industry.
Describe your business in one sentence.
Brooklyn Fish Market is a trusted source of high quality products, and provides knowledge
to boost the appreciation and consumption of seafood.

Describe your business in two words.

Honest seafood

Describe your business in one word

Genuine

If your brand were a person, how would you describe its personality?
- Smart but approachable, not obnoxious or preachy
- Fun
- Elegant, but not too fancy

If your audience could come away with just one thought about the brand what would
that be?
I learned something new about seafood today and I am a fan (therefore, I will buy more
and/or tell a friend).

How do you want customers to feel when they interact with your brand?
Happy, excited, warm, delighted
Guided, enlightened