Behind the Billboards: The Making of Heroshe’s Simplified Message

As you know, Heroshe Simplified is live and buzzing all over Lagos, and it is a dream come true for all of us Herostars.

When we were first told that "Heroshe will be going offline," I was so exciteddddd.

Some of my friends had earlier asked why Heroshe wasn't on billboards yet, and I guess it wasn't just me who felt the excitement as other members of the marketing team were over the roof with the same feelings I felt

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing! There were plenty of unexpected wahala along the way. 

Like having to interview and review many agencies to find the perfect fit for our idea, who knew finding a fit could be so hectic? (Not me because I expected smooth sailing).

Or when some team members were getting messages from the agency during the weekends??? We don't do weekends at Heroshe 😭

Let's not forget the epic makeup mishap. The makeup artist disappointed us on the shoot day, and the team had to come up with something quickly and on the spot.

When the campaign finally launched, it was almost as if they paid our dragging clause, and almost everybody had something to say about Heroshe on X (formerly known as Twitter). Haba kilode?

I don’t want to bore you, so let’s get into the making of the Simplified theme.

The Inspiration Behind "Simplified"

You might wonder why “Simplified.” Why not something else? And how did you guys know your campaign would be called Simplified?  

The inspiration for our "Simplified" campaign came from the very essence of what Heroshe stands for—making the complex simple. 

As Rebecca, our Product Marketing Manager, explained, "The agency’s brief idea gave birth to Heroshe Simplified. They did their research, and the popular description our customers or potential customers used to describe our service is the simplicity they carry out our service." 

Related: 10 Simple Tips Every Heroshe First-Time Customer Will Benefit From

This feedback became the cornerstone of our campaign. “The messaging was further developed by the marketing team and the members of the management, focusing on these four Tenets of our service:  Reliability, Speed, Simplicity, and Affordability.”

The Creative Process: From Concepts to Billboards

One of the unique aspects of this campaign was the collaborative effort across our team. We wanted the visuals to resonate with our audience, so we involved our team members as models. 

Rebecca recalls, "We came up with the idea to do a photoshoot mirroring our visual ideas for the campaign shoot, and the experience was very wholesome.

If you see any of our visuals, say a big shoutout to Fola, Subomi, Michelle, and Adeola…. Ps. They are professional models. The shoot was a walk in the park for them.”

Why look for models when we have supermodels in the Heroshe team?

Now, the graphics design!!!!!!

“Our agency came up with the creative direction, but our Chief cook, Shalom Olatunji, baked, dissected, and instrumented the designs you see on our promotional materials. 

I am super proud of that guy! The guy knows his onions.  Shout out to Shally Poppi…. “

Dear Shalom, you have a mail. Come get your flowers.

Our Content Marketing Lead, Afolabi, reflected on the creative journey, saying, "Seeing the designs transition from ideas to real billboards was incredibly satisfying. It’s a joy to see our concept come alive on such a big scale." 

The whole team felt a sense of accomplishment, especially when we started receiving messages from friends about the billboards and jingles.

“Heroshe  is playing on the radio.” “I saw your billboard at Sureulere.” “you people are not playing o; your billboards are fine.”

We have seen all your comments, and we are saying thank you. If you see any of our billboards, in-mall screen, or hear our jingle, take a shot, post on social media, and tag us.

Fun and Challenges

The creation of the "Simplified" campaign was not without its challenges. One of the trickiest parts was choosing the right locations for our billboards. 

"Getting an outdoor site for the billboards that would make an impact on the target audience we were trying to attract, and in alignment with our budget, was a bit tricky," Rebecca noted. However, our agency's expertise helped us secure the perfect spots.

Ngozi, our Sales Lead, shared some internal challenges, such as creating the sales flowchart. "I had to redo that over and over again," she said. But the spirit of collaboration made it all worthwhile. "The conversations were very, very open. The collaboration was as it should be, without any hitch," she added.

There were also plenty of fun moments. Fola talks about the excitement around the radio jingles: "The jingle is a vibe. Almost everybody who listens to it reaches out to me later, saying, 'Dude, why am I singing? Heroshe Heroshe?' It’s just amazing."

If you are not ready to  sing Heroshe, Heroshe, don’t play the video

Going Live and Making Impact

As the campaign went live, the responses were overwhelmingly positive. Seeing our billboards around Lagos and hearing our jingle on the radio was a dream come true. 

"I'm very excited about the campaign going live. One of the joys of being a content marketer is seeing an idea in your mind become a reality," Fola shared. 

He also mentioned looking forward to going for radio rounds so he can fulfill one of his  side quests of being heard on the radio since people will not allow him to rest with “you have a radio voice.”

Ngozi expressed her hopes for the campaign's impact: "I want people to know that Heroshe is a trusted and safe brand to use when it comes to importing goods. With us, they can be rest assured their goods are insured."

See the wordplay there? We mean business over here at Heroshe.

Reflection and Future Expectations

Reflecting on the campaign, Rebecca acknowledged some of the unexpected challenges, such as shipment delays due to external factors. 

“For more context, in the last few weeks, we have been faced with several challenges beyond our control. These include major natural disasters, the crowd strike that affected major airlines, and the rejection of our cargo. 

These were our realities, and we can’t shy away from them. We tried our best to carry our customers along by communicating and giving frequent updates on their packages. 

She also emphasized our commitment to creating a better experience for our customers.

"We always strive to do better… While we can’t control some of these issues, we have  put processes in place to handle the volume we’ll get from this successful campaign."

Fola summed up our expectations beautifully: "We offer an amazing service. if I had to rank our service in our industry without bragging, I'd put us in the top three. But for some reason, it's just like we are a well-kept secret.

With this campaign, a whole lot more people will hear about us, see us, and use our services. We’re hoping to attract more attention and drive more people to experience how simple and reliable Heroshe is."

Final Thoughts

I am so happy that we are offline, that the team put in their A game and delivered like Hebrew women, and that  we are no longer going to be a “well-kept secret.”

The execution of this campaign showed just how hardworking our Herostars can be. It also showed that our collaborative spirit is top-notch while we work in different teams. From sales to marketing, warehouse, and even people operations, everybody showed up and showed out.

As the campaign continues to make waves, we look forward to seeing more people join the Heroshe family and experience simplified shipping.

This campaign showcases the simplicity of our services and reinforces our mission to bridge the commerce gap, simplify imports, and empower Africans to access global markets. 

We're excited to continue this journey and grateful for the opportunity to serve our community.

If you don’t have a Heroshe account, now is a good time to create an account and join the Simplified Train. 

While I forgot to mention this earlier, the Heroshe experience is laced with love and swift delivery, and you shouldn’t afford to miss it.