Case Study — Social Media · 2024
Pulse Coffee Co.
A bold social identity and a 90-day content engine for an independent roastery — built to earn attention the chains can't buy.
Overview
Pulse is an independent roastery with three locations, genuinely great coffee, and a social feed that said none of it. The team posted when they remembered, the visuals swung between phone snaps and stock, and the brand's real personality — loud, skilled, a little feral — never made it online.
Skillsquad built a bold social identity and a 90-day content engine to match: content pillars, a shoot playbook, motion-first templates, a posting cadence the small team could actually sustain, and a community playbook that turned regulars into the distribution channel.
The Challenge
The feed had no voice and no rhythm. Posts arrived in bursts, the photography had no consistent point of view, and captions read like afterthoughts. Meanwhile the chains were outspending Pulse ten to one — and looking it.
The constraint became the concept: a two-person marketing team, a phone, and ninety days. The system had to be loud enough to stop thumbs, simple enough to produce between rushes, and honest enough that baristas would actually want to be in it.
Strategy
Strategy: loud mornings. We positioned Pulse as the anti-chain — craft you can taste, culture you can hear. Three content pillars carried the engine: Craft (the making, close and technical), Culture (music, neighbourhood, the 7 a.m. crowd), and Community (regulars, staff, the unscripted stuff).
Distribution logic was ruthless: motion-first reels with the hook inside 1.5 seconds, five posts a week the team could sustain, and a barista-led voice that made the brand feel like a person rather than a logo. Consistency was the growth hack — the system made consistency possible.
Chains buy reach. Independents earn attention. We built the machine that earns it.
Creative Direction
Direction: gig-poster energy, shot on a phone. Brutalist oversized type, direct-flash photography, steam caught in macro, halftone textures that make digital feel printed. References came from gig posters, zines and skate videos — media made by people with more taste than budget.
The shoot playbook was written for reality: one light, one lens, fifteen minutes between rushes. Every template was designed so a barista could produce a publishable asset in the time it takes to pull a shot.
Design System
- Ink
#0A0A0B - Paper
#F4F3EF - Amber — accents
#FDB813 - Copper — project tint
#D06A2C
- Display — Space Grotesk Bold. All caps, tight tracking, sized to shout. Headlines are the layout.
- Body — Inter. For captions and stories — keeps the loud type from getting exhausting.
- Voice rule — short punch up top, long story below. Every caption earns its scroll.
- Reel hook templateThe payoff lands in the first 1.5 seconds — every cut is front-loaded, every caption ends on the punchline.
- Caption rhythmThree lines max before the fold, then the story for whoever stays. Short punch, long soul.
- Sticker packA set of halftone badges and type stickers the team drops onto stories in seconds.
- Menu board systemThe feed's typography carried into the physical space — chalkboard specials, same voice.
Final Execution
The engine launched with a full asset bank and a calendar the team could run without us — which was the point. Templates live in both Figma and a simplified editor, the shoot playbook fits on one page, and the community playbook turns regulars into collaborators rather than background extras.
- Social identity kit and tone of voice
- 120+ launch assets across formats
- Figma and simplified-editor templates
- One-page shoot playbook
- 90-day content calendar
- Community and UGC playbook
Results
Results are measured against client KPIs and published with permission. For Pulse, that means reach, saves, profile visits and foot-traffic correlation across the 90-day window.
The system was designed to make consistency the default: loud enough to stop the scroll, simple enough to sustain, and honest enough that the people in the content keep showing up for it.
Awaiting verified results
Your Move
HAVE AN IDEA?
LET'S MAKE IT UNMISSABLE.
Whether you're launching a brand, redesigning your digital presence or creating content that demands attention — let's build something remarkable.