Hazel Village
Elevating a whimsical children’s toy brand with distinctly charming marketing
As Director of Marketing, my job was to drive awareness and sales, spreading the joy of Hazel Village woodland friends with new customers and loyal supporters alike.
The key challenge? Ensuring all marketing initiatives captured the brand’s unique essence while aligning with effective marketing practices necessary to drive growth.
Partnership
#GiveBetter Holiday Campaign
The joy of shopping small and giving thoughtful gifts, powered by PayPal.
We partnered with PayPal for the holidays, featuring a Fifth Avenue window display and robust digital campaign. I managed the relationship with PayPal from initial contact to final sign-off, ensuring their team and agency partners had all the products, approvals, and assets they needed to bring this amazing campaign to life.
Result: coverage in Condé Nast Traveler, Bustle, and other media. The campaign also boosted online sales and PayPal checkouts and brought new visitors to our Brooklyn store!
Product Release
Peaseblossom Unicorn’s Magical Arrival
Contests, mysteries, and influencers — oh my!
Pre-launch:
To drive excitement early on, we announced the launch date for a new toy, but kept the animal identity a mystery.
For a week leading up to launch, we posted new hints on Instagram Stories (where users submitted guesses) and sent emails to a segment that had opted-in to receive daily clues. We also designed a giveaway to grow email leads and word-of-mouth referrals.
Additionally, loyalty group members (AKA Hazelnuts) were promised early access to the product.
Post-launch:
To drive sales post-launch, we created #WelcomePeaseblossom, a social campaign that encouraged users to share photos of their children welcoming the new animal to their collection.
We also relied on influencer partners (who had received the toy early) to post photos on their feeds, which we then shared on our accounts and in email promos.
This ensured sustained interest after the initial launch day. Paid social ads for a special unicorn toy also drove interest and sales from new customers.
Result: a record sales day for Hazel Village, and over 2x the revenue generated by the previous launch!
More Village Aventures
Icicle's First Twinkle Giveaway
Goal: Create a distinct, on-brand campaign that effectively tapped into the excitement of the holidays, while capturing the interest of new and loyal customers alike.
Campaign: 21 days of giveaways on IG stories, featuring one-of-a-kind handmade gifts shared by Hazel Village animals. We revealed a new gift daily and encouraged users to answer questions for a chance to win.
Result: Most successful IG stories initiative ever, generating +114% impressions and +185% story replies.
How to Wrap Your Animal
Goal: Publicize a unique, delightful, and eco-friendly element of the Hazel Village experience — the fact that each toy is wrapped in a collectible, illustrated bandana. Many customers didn’t know about this thoughtful choice. Others struggled to re-wrap their animals once opened.
Campaign: Create a tutorial video that educates and re-engages loyal customers, while also engaging potential new shoppers.
Result: Over 17K views and record engagement on IG.