BODY ROCKET
Kora
Yak wool activewear
Kora is a really special company with a noble purpose: to support Himalayan communities in a changing world and help to protect the ecology of the Himalayas.
When we met kora's founder he was right at the beginning of his journey, with a lofty vision of buying yak wool from Himalayan communities and making that into high quality, adventure-ready outdoor apparel.
Business Strategy
We helped kora understand their positioning in the marketplace as an outdoor, natural fibre brand and worked with Michael on concepts for licensing fabric.
Brand Strategy
After carrying out market research and consumer insights, we positioned the brand at the premium end of the outdoor market with a view to establish Kora as a thought leader in the world of natural fibres and extreme outdoor explorations. The kora brand combined high quality performance in extreme environments, natural comfort and a way to make a contribution back to the nomadic Himalayan communities. We devised a series of tests with kora carried out by an external test house to prove the performance of the fabric to prove the extreme performance element of the brand. The brand values were described at "freedom, adventure and connection the the natural world."
Marketing Strategy
Our marketing strategy centred around storytelling and tribe-building. Michael, kora's founder is also a keen explorer, having carried out many treks through the Himalayas where he sources the yak wool. We extended this thread of exploration to a collection of explorers / ultra runners and other athletes who had a strong connection to nature. We created a journal and infographics around Michael's explorations, these community and related themes whilst building connections with other kindred publications and brands to help build the community.
Brand Identity
The brand identity work for kora centred very much on the natural environment that the wool comes from and where it will be used whilst exploring the outdoors wearing kora's products. The logo represents mountains, yaks and the idea of value coming full circle from the mountains, back to the mountains. We designed a brand book and style guide to describe how the visual parts of the brand should be presented.
