Boomtown wins Ocean Basket business

The decision to partner with the agency was made by Ocean Basket CEO Grace Harding and her team after a pitch requiring both strategic and creative presentations.

Founded by Fats and George Lazarides (they opened their first store in 1995 in Pretoria), Ocean Basket is a highly-successful global business with over 215 restaurants in 19 countries including Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

In addition to working with the Ocean Basket team on refining the brand’s persona and values, and providing the overarching direction for any communication done by the agencies Ocean Basket works with across the globe, Boomtown will assume responsibility for the brand’s through-the-line presence in South Africa.

According to CEO, Glen Meier, the ‘fit felt right’ from the start of the process when the agency delivered its credentials, through the chemistry session after which the eight invited to participate were whittled down by Ocean Basket to four, through the research and sessions the agency ran to guide its strategy and prepare for its presentations, and in the final pitch.

“Firstly, it was invigorating to be back in a room with a client after two-and-a-half years,” he grinned. “Second, everything just felt on point throughout the process, and – of course – magic happens when an agency uncovers real and truly relevant insights during its immersion research and uses these to put forward emotive and entertaining creative.

“We felt that the deep dives into Ocean Basket’s business we did, the work we prepared, our approach, our chemistry, was as good as anything any other agency could deliver. Better even! We are thrilled Grace and her team felt the same way, and that they are looking forward to working with us just as much as we are to working with them.”

Boomtown is already hard at work for Ocean Basket – it has completed the collateral, including videos, for a successful franchisee and stakeholder conference and a successful winter campaign, and is currently in the process of finalising a summer campaign, which is launching soon.