Carrying it all off
Keri Andriana’s handbag line is popular with celebrities – and after one-to-one mentoring and training with Google, she hopes to make the brand even more discoverable online
Breaking into the fashion business isn’t easy, but Keri Andriana followed her passion and made her dreams come true when she started a handbag brand called Amschela.
After working as a lawyer for 15 years, a company restructure left her open to explore new opportunities. Keri used her redundancy payment to set up her own handbag business. “I knew it was a risk but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life thinking about what could have happened,” Bristol-based Keri explains.
Very soon Keri’s Amschela bags became popular among celebri ties and she became a designer member of the prestigious British Fash ion Council.
Three years on, Amschela bags have been fea tured in fashion magazines such as Vogue and Brit ish GQ, but the struggles of lock down hit brands like Keri’s hard.
“We pitch our bags as ‘affordable luxury’, but as purse strings tightened, many people found they couldn’t afford any sort of luxury,” she says. With consumers searching and shopping more online, Keri knew she had to double down on her efforts to make Amschela more discoverable to keep her more customers online. She signed up for one-to-one mentoring sessions and training from Google, which is offering these free services to help local businesses and startups find success online.
The mentor from Google was amazing and really took the time to understand my brand and what training I needed
Keri Andriana,
Amschela
MENTORING HELPED AMSCHELA MAXIMISE OPPORTUNITIES
Keri’s mentor helped her use Google My Business, a free online profile that will allow her to easily connect with customers on Google Search and Maps. Her mentor suggested using the Updates section in the same way as social media by posting regular news and promotional offers to her followers.
Around 70 per cent more customers are likely to visit businesses with completed profiles, so it’s important for Keri to keep hers updated. She says that she found the one-toone mentoring and training extremely helpful.
“The mentor from Google was amazing and really took the time to understand my brand and what training I needed,” Keri explains. “I want our customers to connect with our brand more, so one of the key things that I will be focused on is sharing stories of Amschela and building on our social media presence.”
BEING CREATIVE IN 2021
Keri has picked up some crea tive ideas about how to use Google to promote Amschela in 2021: “The brand is currently developing a full vegan collection using non-leather substitutes that are eco-friendly and sustainable.”
She wants to start creating video content to share her experience on social media, so her customers can follow the entire behind-the-scenes process when it comes to making an eco-friendly product during lockdown. This, she says, “will give them access to the real life and human nature of the brand itself ”. brand objectively. Using these new tools, I’m very excited to work on Amschela’s brand and social strategy over the coming months, making it more personable and sharing our eco-friendly values with customers.”
Check out the vegan collection now at: amschela.co.uk