Instagram live talks about creative businesses "Balachki and baklava"

Serious topics, frivolous title. Leaders of creative businesses eat up with baklava the stuff that didn't work and praise each other for cool cases and insights that led to victories.

Baklava, what are you talking about?
Sometime in October 2022, our team decided to take a more active role in our own social networks. In the course of the discussions, a plan emerged that we need periodic Instagram lives, but everyone is tired of "Top 5 tips / services / resources". That's why we came up with two cool formats. We will talk about one of them right now.
The concept is simple: our CEO Ira Shostak will discuss pains and victories with owners or top managers of other creative companies. This is a kind of online business networking. However, in order to attract attention to the events, it was necessary to package it in a cool way.

Naming is the head of everything
“We started thinking on how to name our cool show. Random ideas started coming up – classic brainstorming. In the end, we came with "keeping the business afloat" (“на плаву” — from Ukrainian), because it is precisely such insights that can interest our target audience. Ira then added that during the broadcasts, she and her guests will discuss their failures and at the same time praise (“хвалити” — from Ukrainian) themselves for their successes. This is how the pun "business on baklava (бізнес на пахлаву)" spontaneously appeared”, – says Mykhailo Komarov, Creative Copywriter at linza agency.

After tweaking the name a little, we settled on the option "Балачки за пахлавою" (Talks while eating baklava).

Visual style
With such a name, it was simply impossible to make classic discussion in Insta live. Something more was needed. That's why we decided not just to talk, but to really eat baklava and thus to praise ourselves for our successes. Of course, this made the whole process a bit more complicated. Especially in the preparation of broadcasts with guests in other cities. Research of baklava producers in the field has begun. Along with this, our team developed the visual style for the project.

“At first, we wanted to use spectacular photos of baklava and prepare visuals in the format of a postcard. However, it immediately became clear that baklava has very different variations. We also wanted to maintain a balance between the visuals of the baklava and the photos of the heroes of the video. At the end of the day, sweets are the trick, but people are the main part.

In addition, it was better to make the visuals diverse, but in the same style. The idea with the photo background did not catch on. Then we came up with the idea to beat the titbits in the form of an ornament or a kaleidoscope", – says Anna Heher, Designer, Author of the branding and SMM Manager at linza agency.

Based on the new brand book, we created an invitation card for guests and a sticker pack for the most active viewers.

Guests of the show:
1. Roman Tymotsko – CEO & founder, Stroom Digital;
2. Dmytro Vlasov – Creative Director, infocus;
3. Irina Metneva – Creative Director & Partner, Vandog Agency;
4. Natalia Holod – CEO & founder, WARTO Communication Agency;
5. Veronika Kobzysta – CEO & founder, 9.Department.

What's next?
We liked everything, and so did the guests. We are slowly uploading clips from the lives to Instagram Reels, and we are also preparing a new project.

"In general, I love talking to people, hearing, sharing insights, and the format of the chat is exactly that. I feel that this format allows at the same time to meet new people, share our pains, and declare challenges. It is interesting to notice how different businesses have a lot in common and a lot of differences at the same time. I myself like to listen to podcasts and broadcasts of other managers: some inspire me, in some I reflect on my own background. I hope that our format will allow both our listeners and ourselves to understand and reflect on the life and existence of creative businesses." – says Ira Shostak, CEO & Marketing lead at linza agency.