The Index

The client was operating under strict tobacco advertising regulations that limited organic marketing and completely ruled out paid media, while also struggling with an underutilised email marketing framework and a lack of fresh, high-quality content.

• Tobacco advertising restrictions -- Australia maintains some of the harshest tobacco advertising regulation in the world, so we couldn't publicly use imagery of cigars, smoking, or the brands in any organic media. Paid media was prohibited outright
• Un-optimised email segmentation -- Incorrect list segmentation and sending methods had severely crippled their email deliverability
• Outdated email design -- Every email kept the same design from when it was first built years earlier, with the same reused creatives, making each one feel stale
• Outdated flows -- Existing flows met only a bare-minimum quality standard, with design that didn't match the customer experience online or on social media
• No fresh organic content -- All content across the website, emails and social media was recycled from the same handful of launch shoots. There was no easy access to photographers or videographers, so no flexibility to promote new products or offers
• Off-shored social media -- Both email and social content were managed entirely off-shore. Timezone differences meant content never improved over time, and there was no flexible response to planned campaigns
• Slow time to market for new products -- Relying on project-based contractors meant new products took far too long to go live, delaying the hype around new arrivals

The Index engaged us on a Content & Email Marketing retainer, using a brand-first organic strategy to stay compliant with regulation. We rebuilt, optimised and maintained their social media and email channels.

• Built an organic strategy around the brand, not the product -- Because tobacco legislation heavily restricted our marketing freedom, we built a content strategy around everything except the product itself. We led with the brand, using explicit packaging and white-glove service imagery, both of which The Index is known for. Although this diluted the direct sell, it set us in stark contrast to competitors, who were either badly outdated or advertising illegally
• Optimised their email segmentation -- We cleaned the list and segmented it by purchase behaviour, engagement level and product preference to lift list quality and maximise deliverability
• Custom designed all emails -- We designed every email and custom template to match the high-quality visual identity on their website and social, giving customers a consistent brand experience
• Rebuilt all email flows -- We rebuilt every flow from scratch: Welcome, Post-Purchase, Win-Back and Abandonment. We developed the strategy from their online store data and email history so each email landed at the right point in the customer lifecycle
• Created a full organic content calendar -- We merged social and email into a single calendar, pre-planning all organic content and promotional periods at least a month ahead. This gave the client full visibility into our planning, strategy and progress
• Maintained a daily social media posting cadence -- We took over all social media management across Meta platforms, posting at least one piece of content daily for maximum saturation and growth. This included custom-designed post and story templates
• Content retainer -- We set The Index up on a content retainer, visiting the Maison weekly to shoot content for all organic channels and promotional periods. This let the client stay flexible in planning new promotions and releases, with a clear, predictable budget