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AfroXel branding.

AfroXel, Meet Africa

Branding

AfroXel is an online platform designed to connect African creatives with global buyers and consumers. Offering a wide range of high-quality and authentic images, videos, audio, and illustrations, AfroXel aims to showcase the richness, diversity, and vibrancy of African culture and identity. Beyond content hosting, AfroXel provides training, mentoring, and networking opportunities for African creatives, as well as promoting their work across various media channels. The platform emerged as a response to the poor representation of Africans in global stock photography sites, where marketing and communication professionals struggled to find images that reflected African people and lifestyles. 

Home page AfroXel community

Goals

AfroXel tasked us with the following objectives:

  • Create a strong brand identity that reflects the essence of the organisation.
  • Develop a comprehensive communication strategy aimed at creating awareness, brand recognition, and sympathy. This strategy would also serve as a tool to engage potential contributors, including photographers and illustrators.
  • Build a strong digital presence on social media and create a temporary website to promote the project.
  • Initiate a database of images that would later be enriched by contributors’ work to serve as the foundation for AfroXel’s stock photography platform.
  • Promote the project to potential sponsors and partners, establishing credibility for future growth.

Process & Solution:

To bring AfroXel’s vision to life, we developed a communication strategy focused on two key pillars: brand awareness and engagement. Here’s how we approached it:
  • Brand identity
We created a visual identity that communicated AfroXel’s value proposition. The brand was designed to appeal to a global audience while maintaining its African roots. The tagline “Essence of Black” was chosen to position AfroXel as a champion of authentic African content, filling the gap left by mainstream stock platforms. “Meet Africa” was selected to emphasize AfroXel’s role in connecting the world with the real Africa through visual and auditory storytelling. We also developed comprehensive branding guidelines and templates to ensure consistency across all communication channels.
  • Digital presence
We established AfroXel’s social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, creating content that highlighted African creatives and their work. A temporary website was developed, focusing on promoting the work of contributors through blog posts and interviews that showcased their skills and creative journeys. These posts were highly illustrated with contributors’ photographs and illustrations, helping to build trust and interest among potential users.
  • Contributor Engagement
Our team identified African photographers and illustrators on Instagram whose work aligned with AfroXel’s vision. We created a curated list, including details such as follower count, style of photography, and location. Outreach was conducted through direct messaging on Instagram, where we adopted a more conversational tone, presenting AfroXel as a platform that could elevate their work to a global audience. This informal approach allowed for a more personal connection, which resonated well with contributors.
  • Content creation
To build the initial catalogue for the platform, we organized photoshoots around themes like rural settings, fashion, and African lifestyle. These were done in collaboration with photographers and models, creating the first images for AfroXel. We also developed and managed a website as a hub for our audience to connect with contributors. The site featured curated content, including interviews, biographies, and presentations of photographers and illustrators, highlighting their talents and fostering ongoing engagement with our community.
  • Stock photography platform design
We designed the stock photography website mockups, which were handed over to developers for the build-out. These mockups incorporated feedback from the creative community, ensuring that the final platform would meet both user and contributor needs.
Afroxel Facebook cover

Challenges & Responses

One of the primary challenges we faced was budgetary constraints. AfroXel had limited financial resources, which required us to think outside the box to achieve our objectives. Some of the creative solutions we implemented include:

  • Leveraging Contributor Networks

By encouraging contributors to share AfroXel’s content within their own networks, we were able to organically increase reach and visibility without additional advertising costs. This network effect helped build the platform’s reputation at a grassroots level.

  • Direct Instagram Outreach

Rather than relying on paid ads or expensive campaigns, we focused on direct engagement with photographers and illustrators via Instagram. This personalized approach proved highly effective, allowing us to build relationships without significant costs.

  • Collaborative Content Creation

We organized local photoshoots with selected contributors and models, which were cost-effective but produced high-quality visuals. These images were used to seed the platform and provide a starting point for future growth.

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