by Fatema Mulla
Since their launch almost two whole years ago, Thyme have continued to grow and evolve in a very competitive industry - the meal box market.
We caught up with them a while back, after they first launched their brand in a launch client spotlight to celebrate their first phase of success. Since then, they’ve worked hard on building both their brand and their business, focusing on not only boosting sales but also transforming the Thyme brand into a fresh, innovative online store taking the meal box market by storm.
Having gone through a wide range of changes, we caught up with Marketing Director, Heidi Thompson, to talk about how the brand has evolved since we last spoke to them.
What is Thyme and can you sum up what you do in 10 words?
Delicious gourmet frozen food delivered directly to your door.
What's happened since we last spoke in our previous spotlight?
We discovered that customers loved the premium nature of our products; free-range meats sourced from farms we know and trust, prepared in the same way you would prepare food in a domestic kitchen, using the same ingredients and processes. These learnings led us to redesign our brand and website with a cleaner, more streamlined look and feel in January 2018, a brand that naturally said fresher, cleaner and more premium.
Thyme now hosts around 150 products in various sizes and formats within 12 categories; from timeless classic ready-to-heat meals, side orders (our fastest growing category) to smoothies.
We’ve also, more recently, launched our marketplace category – this is an opportunity to showcase small independent brands that we love and know our customers will love too.
Thyme have certainly come quite far in the past two years, and have worked hard on establishing a strong new brand identity and redesigning their site to fit their new look. We worked with the Thyme team to refresh the design of their site in early 2018 to match their new brand guidelines - which you can read more about here.
What are the key successes you've seen since the launch of the new site?
An increase in sales and an increase in customer visits – which is obviously the key objective for any new brand.
What's been the biggest challenge so far for the brand?
As with any new eCommerce brand, our biggest challenge continues to be attracting new customers to the site and standing out in an overcrowded competitive market.
The food industry is by far one of the most competitive markets, but Thyme are working hard to ensure their brand moves forward and thrives in such an industry.
What are the ambitions and plans for the future?
We’re busy working on our product range. Our Autumn / Winter 2018 range is our biggest most exciting range to date but we are continually working to find new products, new ideas and new technologies. We’ve recently appointed a Product Development Chef who now oversees the development of all our food and drink products to ensure it’s all going in the right direction_._
We look forward to seeing Thyme’s exciting new Autumn / Winter 2018 product range that they have been working on, and we’re sure it will be delicious!
What's been the most exciting part of the launch for you, personally?
It’s really been the feedback we’ve had from customers and the industry in general. We developed the new look and feel in house, so we’re particularly proud of it!
How are you using marketing to grow and drive awareness?
Social media, affiliates and PPC make up the biggest part of our marketing spend. We also focus on in box communication and have just launched our first catalogue, which is proving to be very successful.
For food brands in particular, affiliate marketing can be an extremely effective and powerful marketing strategy, and Thyme are making sure to leverage this particular strategy to help their brand to grow. Social media can also be effective in helping food brands to push out powerful content and imagery to draw customers in.
Thyme are also trying out different marketing methods, creating and launching their first catalogue which has seen great success.
Any top tips for other companies preparing for a site and brand refresh?
Make it your own. It’s great to look at market leaders for inspiration, but it’s essential to really own what you do and why you do it.
What’s next for Thyme?
Thyme are continuing to work hard on growing their brand and business to stand out in a truly competitive market, and with the increase in sales and customers, they’re sure to see accelerated growth as they continue.
