Fishing for agency-making moments is a driving force in the post-pandemic era; and boy have we caught a big one! By believing in better, Boomtown is now filling the Ocean Basket with global brand love, caught, packed and delivered locally from our Gqeberha and Johannesburg offices.
Founded in 1995, a year after our agency, Ocean Basket has become a highly successful global business with over 215 restaurants in 19 countries, including Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Mauritius, Kenya, Dubai, Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Looking to make more waves within South Africa and abroad, they opened the door to creative agencies to assist.
Ocean Basket wanted consumers to consider the brand year-round, instead of only on special occasions. To do this, their CEO, Grace Harding and her team made the decision to partner with Boomtown, after a pitch process that demonstrated the agency’s core creative and strategic abilities. Harding essentially tasked Boomtown with inserting the brand into South African culture.
According to Boomtown CEO, Glen Meier, “the fit felt right from the start when we delivered our credentials through the chemistry sessions after which the eight invited agencies were whittled down by Ocean Basket to four, through intensive research and impactful sessions the agency ran to guide its strategy and prepare for the final nail-biting pitch”.
In addition to working with the Ocean Basket team in refining the brand’s persona, values, creating global brand love and providing the over-arching direction for any communication done by the agencies Ocean Basket works with overseas, Boomtown was given the responsibility of elevating the brand’s through-the-line presence in its motherland, South Africa.
A deep dive into the brand
Our strategic team delved into the way the brand had structured its previous marketing and strategic approach, and whether they could deliver a more end-to-end experience. One that delivers an understanding of the behavioural sciences behind consumers’ choices, creating a better relationship with our consumers that extends beyond just consumption.
“We felt that the research we did into Ocean Basket’s business, the work we prepared, our approach, and our chemistry, was as good as anything any agency could deliver. Better even! We are thrilled Grace [Harding] 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”, said Lead Strategist, Lara-Anne Derbyshire.
Meier believes brands are never going to be part of the culture until agencies make them part of the culture. “If you get the strategy right, and you have the ambition to play a role in people’s lives, you have the ability to create something culturally impactful together.”
Boomtown is equipped and ready for the hard work at hand with Ocean Basket, assisting with collateral for the launch of a restaurant in Kingston, UK; conceptualising the strategic theme and elements for their first conference post the pandemic; working on dynamic seasonal campaigns; placing Ocean Basket in the hearts, mouths and culture of everyday global citizens; and creating lasting flavour filled moments for all.
