Today we’d like to introduce you to Arielle Cohen.
Arielle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well I’ve actually been playing in the arena of design & creative services dating back to college; I fell into being a Fine Art major for my undergrad with a concentration in computer / graphic design & photography. At the time, I had no idea what this would do for me professionally, but I found myself being drawn to anything visual or mixed media. More specifically, being able to craft a story through the medium of photography. At the time I was also working as a Lifestyle College Marketing rep for Sony BMG in the D.C. market so having the worlds of marketing & visual media combine planted seeds within me I didn’t even realize were there until years later.
My first salaried job out of college was as a client service coordinator on the in-house design team for a pharmaceutical marketing company. Between working alongside the creative director or designers to communicate the clients’ requests to funneling information over to the print production team, or working alongside the project managers who were directly communicating with the clients it opened up a new world for me of understanding how design and visual assets evolve operationally. About a year in, I realized I yearned to be more client-facing and wanted to be in the rooms where conversations to determine the design assets needed were happening.
After spending 10+ years as a successful biz dev professional building up brand relationships for other agencies and leading conversations about design assets for print, fabrication, experiential and event productions I was yearning for a new challenge. As a born & bred NYC-er, I decided it was time to shake things up and experience life beyond the East Coast. In 2019, I made the move across country to LA and inevitably broke out on my own to give this visual media thing a try under my own brand model. Enter Bodega Bunnies.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I started Bodega Bunnies a year ago in a pre-COVID world where experiential marketing reigned supreme. In recent years this had become the main tactic for brands when wanting to connect more intimately with audiences or yearning to be more disruptive than your typical paid media campaign. Less than six months into officially starting my business, COVID-19 struck where the events & production industries were some of the hardest hit. Coincidentally enough, the week before things shut down, I was in NYC installing a Women’s History Month activation for Sony electronic’s retail showroom. Bodega Bunnies won the pitch against two other agencies which I’m very proud of given women founded creative agencies make up only 0.1% of the industry. Sadly it only remained open for about a week before having to close due to quarantine, but at least I can say our experiential legacy was paused on a high note!
Needless to say, COVID has completely flipped the script on how companies and brands need to approach marketing; beyond needing to be more aware of their messaging itself to their audiences at a time when personal health, financial security & civil rights has taken center stage, the tools available to us have shifted overnight.
From a marketing perspective, I can’t help but be fascinated with the sociological shift that’s unfolding before our eyes. Large events and experiential productions will likely be on hold for a very long time, so it’s a matter of who is able to break through the digital noise and still be creative in connecting with their consumers. Bodega Bunnies thrives in coming up with unique & meaningful solutions to bridge the gap between physical & virtual touch-points given the challenges we all face with in-person interactions. We love to push you to dream & then help make those dreams come true.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bodega Bunnies story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in visual communications, consumer strategy, retail engagement & asset storytelling for lifestyle brands. Much like your neighborhood convenience store stocked with a variety of essentials, Bodega Bunnies provides strategic services to deliver what’s truly needed for your brand.
Given my personal background as a career business development person, I also offer biz dev strategy & sales consulting; I take a look at what company strategy & marketing materials currently exist and help train sales teams to approach outreach in a more personalized way.
With a keen eye, strategic mind & elevated taste, we see things in a way that others don’t.
Combining our big agency experience & in-depth production knowledge with a fine art flair, our brood of Bunnies create one-of-a-kind brand activations & strategies that work. Whether it’s building a brand identity from scratch, developing a multi-disciplinary marketing plan or producing a virtual activation, our focus is on identifying solutions that live at the intersection of entertainment & consumer behavior.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
When it comes to business or any sort of evolution, I don’t really believe in luck – good or bad. I believe in cause and effect; the actions of your past, however big or small, are what set things in motion and it’s how you handle certain forks in the road along the way that eventually dictate the inevitable opportunities that come your way.
Of course, there are extenuating circumstances – where “bad luck” seems to follow certain people, or terrible tragedies have struck, but aside from those types of misfortune I wholeheartedly believe you are the driver of your own destiny. The work and hustle you put in will directly affect the energy and momentum that manifests.
In business, I think of every interaction or conversation as planting a seed… just like in a garden how some seeds sprout to be beautiful plants while others may never take, you don’t ever know what one of your “seed planting” conversations could eventually sprout. So, it’s important to be consistent and always be sowing seeds of gratitude and growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bodegabunnies.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/bodegabunnies
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodegabunnies
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bodegabunnies
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/bodegabunnies
Image Credit:
Sony Square NYC, Sam Nava
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