From startup to eCommerce and business expansion
We were introduced to The New Mexico Shrimp Company through another client of ours – the Arrowhead Center at NMSU. Arrowhead is a business incubator that helps NMSU faculty and staff commercialize business from their research. The center provides numerous other economic development programs as well. NM Shrimp Co. initially received assistance through programs developed at Arrowhead, which helped them bring their research to market.
The initial marketing consultation
When we first met The New Mexico Shrimp Co, we discussed their business goals and marketing strategies for the new venture. From there Sinuate Media helped them establish their brand with a name for their online store, a logo, and messaging. Next, we designed their website that included building out their eCommerce presence with information about licensing their technology. In addition, we developed their online store, where consumers could purchase fresh shrimp, as the crops matured.
Technology for shrimp farming in the desert
The NM Shrimp Co. is a startup company stemming from technology developed at New Mexico State University. This technology allows shrimp to be naturally and locally grown in the Southwestern desert. The shrimp farm aquaculture system prevents overuse of water. It ensures that quality shrimp is farmed free from pesticides and antibiotics. The system also filters nutrient rich wastewater from the shrimp tanks. This can be used to water other naturally grown plants and vegetables. Once the water is sanitized, it is then returned to the shrimp tank. Proper processing and monitoring provides shrimp farmers with confidence that the water is free from harmful chemicals.
New Mexico Shrimp Co’s marketing challenge – outreach to three audiences
New Mexico Shrimp Co offered us the unique challenge of targeting three different audiences with the website that we developed for them:
- The general public to purchase shrimp
- Restaurants to purchase wholesale
- Shrimp farmers wanting to license the technology.
As a business offering modern innovations to seafood production, NM Shrimp Co gets several inquiries to license their technology per week. To expedite licensing and accommodate demand, we developed an organized navigation process that guides potential licensors through the relevant content. We then optimized the pages of the website so they were easily found online by those interested in the business opportunity. This starts with offering content to learn all about the product, then contact the company about licensing. Sinuate Media’s job was to provide them with an online presence that gives both their shrimp and farming technology a fresh appeal.
Brand Focus – Fresh Market Shrimp by The New Mexico Shrimp Company
Our first step was to give their online store a name that would market their own shrimp. Geographically, this was to reach those living locally in New Mexico, and extended throughout all of the United States. The name established was Fresh Market Shrimp. This brand name expands their customer reach, while still keeping the product description in the title. We then formatted the website to have the same look and feel for each service offered. The design gives off a modern, fresh seafood and salty air impression, whether a visitor wants to purchase shrimp for a restaurant, or wants to learn more about the shrimp farming technology. A clearly marked homepage menu directs visitors to their area of interest. We enhanced the site with photography, several photos of which we staged and shot, that displays the quality of the shrimp. The images also allow shrimp buyers to visualize the product to have more confidence to make a purchase.
Additional features on the site include an area dedicated to shrimp recipes. This gives customers an interactive area to find favorite recipes and share their own.
When Sinuate Media started marketing consulting for NM Shrimp Co. they were just getting started as a business with some brilliantly developed technology. However, they lacked a brand name and online presence to market and sell their desert-farmed shrimp. We developed their brand to focus on the right audiences. We then gave them a website to match their unique product offering. This online gateway now allows them to expand business by licensing the shrimp farming technology. The online store provides customers with fresh market shrimp to the Southwestern U.S. and beyond.
