Confluence is about building a community. I recently interviewed one of our attendees, Kayla Sanders of BWAP backpacks to discuss her organization, their connection to Oklahoma City, and the success they’ve had promoting their brand over digital platforms.
It’s organizations like BWAP that embody the spirit of Confluence. The BWAP team works to build a creative, high quality, community-minded product. And so we decided to reach out for some ideas and inspiration.
Three easy questions to start off: What is BWAP? Where did it come from? and how did you get involved?
BWAP stands for Backpacks with a Purpose. For every one BWAP backpack we sell, two child-size backpacks are donated to kids through our nonprofit partners (example: Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, World Vision, and Maisha International). The program started because we noticed a consistent need many nonprofits had: backpacks. Not only that, but they needed good quality backpacks and [larger] quantities than their budgets could afford. We created a retail backpack program that would allow the public to not only afford a good backpack for themselves, but also provide two great backpacks to nonprofits.
I came on board about a year ago, just after the company had launched. I had worked with some of the people starting BWAP years before, so I was already invested in the vision and excited about the progress of the company. After graduating from college and doing some traveling, I was looking for a full-time creative position, mostly focusing on design. A similar position (that also included some event planning, marketing, [and] social media managing) opened up at BWAP, I applied, and the rest is history!
There’s definitely been a rise in socially-conscious startups (TOMS, Warby Parker, and BWAP) in recent years. What do you make of this trend and how do you expect it to continue developing?
I think this trend is great. The two things I love most about these start-ups:
1) These companies educate the consumers on their [consumers’] power – the power to affect the lives of others by where [they shop] and what they shop for.
2) … These socially-conscious missions give companies the freedom to think inventively. Companies are driven to think of sustainable ways they can impact the world in a positive way while also making a great product – not always an easy task.
I do think there is much to left to develop when it comes to these socially-conscious ventures. Just like any nonprofit, a company has to make sure that the “good” they are doing is a real need. Companies need to know how the need (whatever it may be) can be met and sustained effectively. Also, with so many of these [organizations] popping up, companies have to really focus on their product. Needs are great to meet, but with so many options of the same product, consumers will still purchase the items and designs they like best.
I first learned about BWAP during the exhibition at DNA Galleries. Your backpacks were being used as canvasses by local artists. Can you explain this project and how it came to be?
Of course! BWAP is a good friend of DNA Galleries. We had been [brainstorming] with them about making BWAP backpacks available in their store for the back-to-school season. Amanda came up with the initial idea to make it an entire event and art show. She had held similar group art shows like this before (having various artists make a certain object or material into a work of art). We loved the idea so we helped run with it. Around 25 local artists participated in customizing one of our BWAP backpacks into their own piece of art. These backpacks were then made available for the public to purchase. All “Give 2” backpack donations from the purchases were given to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food for Kids program.
It was great to see you simultaneously promoting Oklahoma City-based artists and your brand and mission. How important is integrating the community into your efforts?
Supporting local business is very important to BWAP. The first BWAP® backpack was made as a response to the needs of the Urban Mission in Oklahoma City. What community is better [suited] to meet this need than [that of Oklahoma City]? From that heart we try to support as many local companies as we can, nonprofit and for-profit alike.
Speaking of getting the community involved, BWAP has really mastered the art of the #hashtag. What was #findBWAPman?
Thank for the compliment, first off! #findBWAPman was a Twitter contest we ran during our official launch party this summer during Live on the Plaza. Our logo already looks somewhat like a man – so with a few doodles, we had tons of fun characters. We printed off these characters and hid them around the Plaza. The Twitter contest awarded a prize to the person who found the most of these “BWAP men,” took a picture, and tagged #findBWAPman.
Do you have any advice for developing a clever hash tag?
Make it short (easy to remember and clear in its point), make it unique to yourself/your company (so it’s easily tied to you when [users search it]), and make it fun ([so that] people want to use it)!
Finally, are there any organizations that have influenced the way you approach social media and the way you engage online? If so, who should we all be following?
Hm…I’d say there are 4 main organizations that have influenced my approach to social media most.
Two of those organizations are online stores, Sevenly and Walk in Love. I admire the design and photography standards they both hold. Their visual branding and individual business personalities are evident and consistent with their online social presence. Great visuals are very important to an online audience.
Two local organizations I think have a great online presence are The Plaza District (promise I m not trying to score brownie points) and the Keep it Local. They both know how to engage with their audience and keep their posts fresh and interesting. They’ve also taught me the importance and benefits of cross-promotion!
