Chief

From $3K to $250K per month in online sales revenue.

Here’s an unpopular opinion. 

It’s not the end of the world when a client leaves, and you don’t always need to date to marry.

When we first met Chief Nutrition in 2020, the brand of healthy snack bars generated approximately $3K per month on Shopify and, in short, was looking to grow.

Fast forward four years later, Chief and DataSauce were together but have officially parted ways… But not without an insane repertoire of wins, achievements, and a love story for the ages. In fact, we’re still of the opinion that Chief (and its founder, Justin Babet) = The Perfect Client. One that leaned into everything we proposed and thus, grew as we did.

The Results:

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Today, you’ll find Chief products stocked in over 3,500 retailers (Coles, Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s, Ampol, and all the other usual suspects), and we’re so proud to have contributed to the business’ transformation into one that’s now generated millions.

• Even from Month 1 (*that's June 2020), we increased Chief’s revenue by 112% in 30 days.
• By the first year, Chief’s revenue saw an uplift of 503% again.
• At the end of our partnership, we generated more in a DAY than Chief used to in a month.
• Concluded with a 6.9 ROAS on Google, with Paid Search being our main revenue driver.
• Returning customer rate of 54.4% by December 2023 – We started from ground zero!

The Solution:

As every year with Chief held its own set of goals, successes and challenges, we’ll split this love story into four phases – each outlining strategies best tailored for that particular stage of our shared journey… The Honeymoon, The Commitment, The Exploration, and The Conclusion.

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Phase 1 (The Honeymoon)

Flashback to circa 2020, maybe 2021.

Chief was still relatively new in market, and acquiring new prospects was of the essence. 

At this point in time, our primary goal was to scale TOFU (Top of Funnel) ads, targeting prospective customers whilst maintaining repeat customer growth. 

How? First things first – Know the product, know the game. 

In the FMCG arena, customers buying food and beverages have different shopping habits than those shopping for other eCommerce products. During Chief’s early days, sales were exclusively limited to their online website, without any retail presence IRL. We needed to figure out how to entice customers to purchase outside of their weekly supermarket shop.

Through lots and lots and lots of market research, we determined the exact time-frame between a customer consuming their product and when they’d be ready to purchase again.

Meaning, pushing ads at the exact time they were feeling… Peckish.

Phase 2 (The Commitment)

Then came some killer creative content. 

We created specific personas for each Chief product and from there, interrogated the different selling points different buyer types needed to hear when hit with advertising material. This may sound like a no-brainer for present day DataSauce, but trust us – It was revolutionary then.

Every ad then accompanied bold visuals and tongue-in-cheek copy, creating a dual effect:

• Allowed exploration and reach of new and different audiences for each product.
• Developed Chief’s overarching brand identity and tone of voice.

And to continue campaign momentum, we regularly trialled, tested, iterated and updated these creatives as we received real-time data to optimise results.

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Phase 3 (The Exploration)

This account soon became the KING of experimentation and testing – largely due to how receptive the Chief team was to every new idea (rogue or conservative) we proposed.

Beyond ad level, we started experimenting with product mixes and optimisations on-site. 

We collaborated on creating a landing page specifically for paid traffic, sending users straight to a Starter Pack option which initially didn’t exist. Not only did this facilitate transactions among new prospects who wouldn’t know where to begin with the Chief range, it bumped AOV up from $60 to a comfortable range of $100+ towards the end of 2023.   

Paying close attention to CAC and CPAs, every decision came from data-backed insights, ensuring that even for Chief first-timers, every customer was profitable from the start.

Of course, we wouldn’t neglect returning customers. 

To combat a common issue within the FMCG space – that is, low AOV products – we proposed getting a subscription program up and running.

Makes sense, right? Snacks as delicious as Chief’s biltong, beef bars and collagen protein bars go quickly when you’re a fan, and implementing a two-step system for automatic purchase that processes every one, two or three months guarantees your loyal shoppers come back for more with no extra effort… We’d know. We’re on a subscription ourselves!

Unsurprisingly, this strategy did wonders for Chief’s returning customers rates.

Phase 4 (The Conclusion)  

Now falling into a comfortable momentum, it was time to scale again. 

Google was our most profitable revenue stream.

But as most marketers would agree, Meta is where you’d really thrive if you’re in the mood to expand and be discovered by more new users.

Via ongoing creative experimentation, we found a winning formula for new customers specifically. In fact, if you chance upon Chief ads now, you’ll see that Justin and his team are still iterating the creative recipe we conceptualised as Chief’s hero ad format.

Here’s how it looks:
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Long-form videos of Justin Babet speaking in front of camera, presenting the USPs of Chief products typically from an educational angle, with heaps of thumb-stop hook testing. 

If you’ve got a brand founder as engaging of a speaker as Justin, capitalise on that.

Consumers love hearing from business owners themselves, as it provides an added layer of closeness, authenticity and a more down-to-earth feel when they first encounter a new brand online. It’s a fundamental factor of trust-building… Would you feel safer going on a first date with someone you’ve seen and heard, or a completely blind one with a stranger?

We didn’t solely rely on this ad angle though.

Meta’s principles of creative differentiation include:

1. Diverse & Non-Repetitive 
2. Anti-Fatigue & Compelling
3. Resonant & Personalised

And to ensure we maintain a fresh, memorable stream of ads for a consistent cadence, our partnership with Chief committed to a process of creative variation. 

Chief was also the very first account we tried our Content Calculator on, an internal tool our Data Science team developed to determine how many creatives a brand would need to hit their sales KPIs depending on monthly budget, unique Meta account metrics, CTRs and more. 

From account structure strategies to creative frameworks, to even product ideas (e.g. protein powder whisks that accompany Chief’s range of Collagen Protein Powder), we really were an extension of Chief’s team, adding value in giving them little ideas beyond marketing as well. 

So, why did it end?

With exponential overall business growth, Chief was able to hire new staff members to manage marketing in-house. Both for organic strategy, and Paid Media.

And to us, that only signals that we’ve given them the tools to thrive on their own... Which you'll be able to see so clearly on their site here: https://wearechief.com/

Much like buffing the training wheels once you can finally ride solo, we don’t approach client relationships by holding onto them with an iron grip. We prioritise your success always – and sometimes, that might make your departure the true testament to our collaboration.

Keen to explore a partnership a little like this? Connect with us today.