Digital agency breaks new records on Ocean Basket account

On 16 September 2013, screens were abuzz with blue and white party balloons that set the scene for an Ocean Basket online celebration, hosted by revered digital creative agency, So Interactive.

With the economic downturn at play, the challenge was set with mid-weight budgets that could not support traditional advertising media. For the first time in 18 years, Ocean Basket handed its torch to digital media to cut the path - and So Interactive took no prisoners in ensuring that Ocean Basket fans knew all about it, quickly and effectively.

"It was a risk we took," says Nana Lloyd, head of marketing at Ocean Basket, "Pouring our coffers into a campaign solely led by digital media is not what we're used to, but our trust in our long-time digital partner, So Interactive, far outweighed the concern; as anticipated, they delivered the goods," says Lloyd.

The lead-up to Ocean Basket's ridiculously, budget friendly Birthday Offer of R18 for a pan of fish and chips, saw 34,000 Ocean Basket fans blowing their virtual balloons, in order to access their exclusive digital invite. It didn't take long to figure out that this was geared to be the feeshiest event of the year.

Following the excitement of the invitation, fans were also incited to access the first-of-its-kind Ocean Basket Facebook app that made Dinner Time so much more appealing. So Interactive crafted an innovative, elegant design that was user friendly and engaging; sporting an appetising competition that incorporated a virtual dinner table.

This got tongues wagging - and fingers tapping in - to invite dinner guests to share in an Ocean Basket feast for six people, valued at R4500. Entries flew off the hook with a traction record of over 500,000 impressions on the first day; skyrocketing a 50% increase in site traffic and gaining fan-base momentum of 12,000 new fans in just seven days.

The party continued with the social media scene ticking over with Subscriber Database Mailers, Google Adwords, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

"On the day of our birthday, our website visits reached an all-time, single-day high and our in-store targets were out-stripped," adds Lloyd, "We saw a 14% increase in sales from the previous year. The So Interactive team never ceases to exceed our expectations on their cutting edge interception," ends Lloyd.

One only has to hop onto http://www.sointeractive.co.za/blog/ to learn that So Interactive Digital Creative Agency is no stranger to the digital space, with a long-standing following of retail clients. The multi-skilled, tight-knit digital team offers its clients full scope integration of digital strategy, design and development that is tailored to suit the uniqueness of each and every So Interactive account.

"The Ocean Basket 18th Birthday campaign is just another testament to the personal approach we adopt with our clients," says Darren Mansour, So Interactive digital director, "We didn't create the birthday app just because apps are the new digital trend; we created it to serve the purpose it was intended for: to convert the consumer and turnover sales," adds Mansour.

The figures speak for themselves: