The beginning
The Eau Claire Makers’ Market is an organization that seeks to support the arts and music by providing a platform for local artists and musicians to showcase and sell their work. They foster community engagement with the arts and music, and promote the economic and cultural development of Eau Claire. ECMM specifically achieves these goals by hosting markets for makers of all sorts, from ceramics, to illustration, to woodworking, and beyond.
ECMM was originally founded by my two friends, Lexi Kane and Kala Rehberger, in the summer of 2021. They felt like the Chippewa Valley, widely known for its' art and music culture, was lacking opportunities for young artists and students. I was brought on in September to create a logo, branding, social media posts, and other marketing graphics as the once spontaneous yard sale became a quickly growing organization with many demands.
THE BRAND
The brand for ECMM came about very naturally and instinctively. We wanted to create an identity for our market to set ourselves apart from the competition and establish ourselves as a mainstay in the Eau Claire creative community. We felt that branding our market would present us as trustworthy and secure. We control people's money, therefore we need to be taken seriously.
When creating the icon, word mark, and overall brand identity, I had a few qualities in mind that I wanted to express. Our market is structured to be low-cost for new artists who want to try their hand at selling their wares. So, I needed colors that were inviting, welcoming, and approachable in nature. We chose a vibrant and bright color scheme to reflect this. Our audience is mostly young people, students at the universities in the Chippewa Valley (UWEC, UW-Stout, and CVTC), and families with kids. Bright colors and a mascot (our M) both helped us to reach across multiple age and social groups and catch their attention. A mascot/icon was also helpful to give our brand a recognizable figurehead apart from our own personal social media presences, and place us ahead of other non-branded markets. Branding ourselves also helped our social media presence bloom, because any of our crew members could design a post that fits our brand just by using the color scheme. For an organization made up of a rotating cast of college students, a brand has helped continue to establish and solidify our place in Eau Claire.
Below are some examples of the promotional posters, Instagram posts, and merchandise featuring our branding, all created by me.
MARKET IMPACT
Our markets typically pull in anywhere from 250 to 500 unique customers. As any good event planner would know, the numbers can be affected by a multitude of reasons: weather, season, location, and other competing events. We have hosted in multiple locations across Eau Claire, including Forage (a private event space), Owen Park, and the Phoenix Park Pavilion.
Our Instagram page has also seen a rapid amount of growth. Our Instagram now boasts over 2300 followers, many of them being movers and shakers of the Chippewa Valley. We have been able to achieve a steady growth through a mix of giveaways, videos, interactive posts, and stories. Our account has found success in being completely honest about our imperfections, fears, and letting our personalities shine.
Eau Claire Makers' Market was voted the #1 Best Holiday Pop-Up Shopping and #2 Best Event of the Past Year by the residents of Northwest Wisconsin in Volume One's yearly "The Best of the Chippewa Valley" Reader Poll. Volume One is a fast-growing culture and entertainment publication of the Chippewa Valley. They have been publishing issues bi-weekly for over 20 years, and they currently distribute 14,000 copies to over 400 locations. Over 16,000 individuals participated in the voting for the 2023 Reader Poll, and cast nearly 200,000 votes in all categories. We're very thankful to be recognized by the community we serve, and hope to continue serving EC residents for years to come.
PRESS
ECMM has been featured in a couple of media pieces. The two articles featured below were published by Volume One, and highlight much of our early progress during our first year of existence.
