Second Serve

There are many clothing resale shops out there, both online as well as brick & mortar locations. And some of them even support charities, donating a small percentage of each sale to worthy causes.

But Second Serve is a completely different kind of resale shop. It’s about serving the planet through the ecological benefits of buying quality resale clothing, it’s about serving the community by focusing on charities in your own backyard, and it’s about serving those in need by donating 85% of sales to organizations best suited to help.

Amy Hebb, the founder of Second Serve, and I met during a marketing advising session, hosted by Social Enterprise Greenhouse, an amazing RI-based entrepreneurial organization. The name Second Serve comes from Amy’s tennis background and provided a nice double entendre for her future venture. Amy wanted to launch her resale non-profit, an idea rolling around in her head for some time but without the reality of a 501(c)3 status, a website, or a brand. The last part got my attention.

Amy explained that she had been in love with resale clothing for a long time and wasn’t shy about sharing her devotion with others. But she didn’t want to be just another thredUp or Poshmark, where you can find gently used designer-label clothing at a discount. She wanted to connect buyers, donors, and nonprofits to promote resale as a tool for community transformation. Second Serve needed to be bigger than resale. Second Serve needed to be bigger than Amy. And the brand needed to communicate that.

Start with the brand message

Since there was no existing brand, I needed to start from scratch. I took Amy through my brand strategy process and together we formalized her mission statement, crafted her vision statement, and created a solid list of core values (one of which is “fun”) around which the entire organization would revolve. You can have the coolest-looking logo on the planet but without the underpinnings of mission, vision, and values, you have no brand message to communicate.

For the brand identity I presented three concepts, all of them incorporating a preppy-inspired color palette of Kelly Green and dark blue that Amy had selected. Two of the concepts featured clothing-based visual elements while the third payed homage to the early 80s with a distinctive monogramed “S.”

We were also experimenting with several different tag lines, many of them clever and fun but finally settled on a mission-supporting and very direct “Your Clothes. Your Cause.”

The final brand identity is based on a retro logotype featuring a Navy peacoat icon — a nod to the Ocean State in which Second Serve is based but also, according to Amy, a quintessential example of resale clothing. In order to accommodate many different applications, I expanded the primary logo into an identity system, including a logo “bug” that could be used in small spaces such as social media avatars.

The Website

Amy contacted a local web developer, Jake Camara, to build the heart, soul, and marketing hub of her non-profit. In typical Rhode Island fashion, Jake also happened to be a friend of mine who I had been wanting to work on a project with for several years.

The three of us worked together to bring the Second Serve online store to life. Amy is a bit of a technophobe (she readily admits this so I’m not throwing her under the bus) but she courageously threw herself into learning how to photograph her extensive clothing inventory, edit and optimize the pics, and upload them to the website.

One of the most distinctive elements of the site is the giving narrative built into each product detail page. Directly underneath each product name you’re presented with the dollar amount of your charitable donation but also an example of a local charity where your gift can be applied. Further down, underneath the clothing details, you’ll find the “Your Purchasing Power” callout, which lists real-life benefits based specifically on your donation amount.

The outcome

Amy’s new website and brand launched her dream of positively impacting her community through resale clothing. The response to Second Serve’s brand message has been great, not only from customers who can find that one missing piece of their next killer outfit but also from the charitable organizations that have benefitted from the generosity of Second Serve’s community.

I have helped many entrepreneurs and small businesses discover their authentic brand over the years but I’m especially grateful to have worked with Amy, who embodies the enthusiasm, sincerity, and generosity that I look for in every client.