Skull Island
Overview
Austral Fisheries sought to diversify it's distribution model by launching a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce platform for their premium Skull Island Tiger Prawns. The primary objective was to boost profit margins and build a relationship with end-consumers via a direct sales channel.
Juicebox crafted a strategic approach that balanced creative storytelling with e-commerce performance, applying rigorous design principles to create a user experience that would help tell the Skull Island product brand story, as well provide an enjoyable and seamless shopping experience.
The website experience and marketing campaign sought to highlight the humble beginnings of their direct to customer model, evolving from a simple car park sale to family and friends during Christmas each year – While also reinforcing their professionalism and industry leading sustainability credentials to build additional trust and credibility.
Furthermore, our strategy included focussing on the unique provenance of the wild caught product. All marketing activity highlighted that these were Australia's largest tiger prawns, sourced from Skull Island in Far North Queensland.
This balanced approach transformed the product from a simple seafood item into a premium, storied culinary experience that was conveniently delivered to your door.
Project Objective
The project aimed to develop a comprehensive digital strategy that would fundamentally reshape Austral Fisheries' approach to selling their premium seafood. By creating an e-commerce platform for Skull Island Tiger Prawns, the team wanted to solve a critical market challenge: physical availability. Historically, even brand fans struggled to find the product in traditional outlets, limiting consumer access.
Marketing Approach
The marketing strategy was carefully developed in collaboration with Austral. Recognising the nascent market for direct-to-consumer seafood, they worked with a network of chef and foodie content creators and influencers. While Austral led the influencer strategy with a conservative ad budget, Juicebox recommended ways to amplify these powerful endorsements through targeted paid social media and digital display campaigns.
The Brand Challenge
The project's most significant challenge was striking a delicate balance between a storied premium positioning and the somewhat transactional experience of e-commerce. The experience design and content needed to promote engagement, while also focussing on conversion rate optimisation. Multiple internal reviews and user testing periods informed revisions and changes to the user experience to realise the optimal outcome.
The breakthrough came from reimagining the site as a premium direct-to-consumer offering - the ecommerce website needed to perform commercially, while delivering a high-end brand experience that would set a new industry benchmark for online seafood.
Technical Direction
Leveraging Shopify's robust ecommerce platform, Juicebox created a bespoke user experience designed to guide customers seamlessly through their purchasing journey, while also learning about the product brand and the company's impressive sustainability credentials.
Immediate Results
This pilot ecommerce initiative demonstrated that, despite direct-to-consumer seafood being in its early stages in Australia, significant seasonal demand was able to overcome assumed barriers within the category.
Following the surge in activity during Black Friday launch, sales remained strong throughout the festive summer season, with many repeat customers, building confidence for future of online seafood and strengthening the brand reputation in market.
Key Learnings
Throughout the project, the team learned valuable lessons about balancing creative storytelling with commercial results - proving that there doesn't have to be a trade off between brand story sales performance at the premium end of the market.
A United Vision
The partnership with Austral Fisheries was characterised by trust and a shared vision. Whilst there were numerous project-based challenges, our collaborative and optimistic mindset ensured that the final outcome exceeded all expectations.
The Impact
This project delivered more than high performing e-commerce channel, it reimagined the way a leading Australian seafood brand connected directly with its customers to enrich their culinary experience.
This was a worthwhile pilot, that demonstrates the potential for a quality product to differentiate itself in a busy market.
Project Credits
- E-commerce
- Campaign strategy, development and implementation
