Lewis Road

34%

Campaign engagement rate

<$2

Campaign CPM

Highest

Month of sales during the campaign I pitched and created

Elevating one of New Zealand’s most beloved dairy brands, both locally and in the US, with a cohesive digital strategy—fusing premium visuals, data-driven insights, and an end-to-end paid creative approach.

The problem

Lewis Road Creamery already enjoyed strong brand affinity across New Zealand but as a premium brand without a digital plan in a competitive market, they needed to translate their brand love into to a robust online presence in order to not get left behind.

They wanted to:

  • Deepen digital engagement and brand storytelling, particularly across Google and social platforms.

  • Maintain consistent, premium-quality visuals across multiple product lines and campaigns.

  • Gather and report quantitative and qualitative insights to inform future strategies.

Key Challenges

  • Translating offline popularity into online growth.

  • Sustaining engaging content year-round.

  • Maintaining a cohesive yet flexible brand choice.

  • Proving campaign effectiveness to key stakeholders.

My Roles

  • Oversaw all digital marketing efforts across NZ and the US, ensuring cohesive brand messaging.

  • Developed and guided the creative strategy, aligning visual storytelling with key brand goals.

  • Photographed and designed the content, creating high-quality images and layouts that reflected Lewis Road’s premium positioning.

  • Crafted brand-consistent copy for ads and social, maintaining a warm, engaging tone.

  • Kept directors informed of performance insights and managed relationships with partner brands.

  • Secured a new campaign opportunity for Lewis Road Creamery while at a subsequent agency.

Key Decisions

  • The first major step, LRC’s digital approach for NZ and the US had to become more cohesive with actions like:

    • Planned Rollouts: With NPD being a vital part of LRC, I made sure they went from little to no digital rollout plan to a comprehensive build up, launch, and following nurture.

    • Paid Media Setup: Having no established approach to paid media on Meta, Google, or YouTube before I joined, I set up our ad accounts, assigned budgets and goals, tested audiences, created campaigns optimised for our different objectives, and ensured we were ready to start moving the needle.

    • Always-On & Campaign Peaks: Ensuring LRC had a strong day-to-day presence while capitalising on product drops or key dates in both NZ and the US.

  • Drawing on photography and design experience, I set up regular recurring content creation sessions to consistently provide:

    • Lifestyle vs. Studio Photography: Captured real-life usage and casual moments, through to polished photos from a simple make-shift studio setup which you’d never know.

    • Cohesive Brand Identity: Maintained consistent colours, typography, and tone across all channels and product lines.

    • Regional Adaptations: Adjusted visuals or creative angles slightly to resonate better with American vs. Kiwi audiences.

  • As a supermarket FMCG brand across hundreds of stores in NZ let alone the US, I wanted to demonstrate a more concrete ROI. As a result, I developed store-focused ad strategies in both NZ and the US:

    • Geo-Targeted Ads: Targeted potential customers within a specific radius of stores carrying particular LRC products, boosting foot traffic and sales.

    • Customised Creative & Copy: Referenced local store locations or promotions, driving home convenience and availability.

    • Measurable Lift: Used store-level data, like sales or footfall, to link ad spend to real traceable results.

  • I knew that in order to truly move the needle with LRC’s digital marketing, we had to invest into paid media.

    However, internal stakeholders were from traditional backgrounds and hesitant of investing into Social & Google.

    My role involved building that justification to the wider team and leading the brand’s path to paid activity.

    • Regular Director Briefings: Demonstrated in detail how NZ and US campaigns performed, addressing any region-specific queries.

    • Cross-Functional Coordination: Ensured in-store promos or new product rollouts were complemented by the brand’s digital presence.

    • Long-Term Vision: Showed how each campaign, whether BAU or a one-off promotion, was part of a broader roadmap to grow LRC’s footprint.

  • I conceptualised and managed relationships with collaborators, such as:

    • De’Longhi: Partnering with this highly respected coffee brand for a wide range of content to help boost our white milk sales.

    • Restaurants & Chefs: As part of a major butter launch, I decided to get approximately 10 well-renowned Kiwi chefs/restaurants to create incredible dishes with our product, which was loved by both of our communities.

    • UGC Creators: Fostering a roster of reliable creators who genuinely loved our brand and who we could consistently rely on for genuine, effective UGC ads.

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