Sarpy County branding, SEO, digital marketing agency Wandering Eye portfolio piece displays an image containing the Vic's Popcorn logo.
Sarpy County branding, SEO, digital marketing agency Wandering Eye portfolio piece displays an image containing the Vic's Popcorn logo.

Vic’s Corn Popper

Merging Brand Equity Of The Past With Successful Digital Marketing Growth Strategy

If you are a native of Omaha, Lincoln or even Sarpy County, you have no doubt heard of, seen, or consumed Vic’s Popcorn.

Started 40+ years ago in Lincoln, Nebraska as a single location, Vic Larson grew his brand so successfully that he ultimately retired from his full-time job as a school teacher and administrator in Omaha Public Schools to focus on its growth.

The brick and mortar version of Vic’s store expanded from one location to five. But as time passed he realized he needed an effective e-commerce solution. He also wanted to expand his reach as a local/regional brand, to a national brand.

When we first started working together, the Vic’s Popcorn website was the same exact site it was when it was launched in the late 1990’s. On the front end it was no longer functioning properly, not responsive, and was delivering a less than stellar user experience. Meaning, site visitors would get 3/4 of the way to placing an order and the site would freeze up.

The customer would have to start all over again. It is a real testament to the strength of his brand that he was selling anything online, as customers would typically have to attempt multiple times to place an order.

The old site was hardcoded, so there was no easy way to updated content, it loaded slowly, it was not responsive, and was limited in in terms of functionality and what it could do.

As a lifelong fan of the brand, we were stoked to work with Vic on a comprehensive brand refresh that positioned the ban to “pop” and grow well into the future.

BeforeAfter

Here’s what we did:

  • Built an entirely new website focused on e-commerce and user experience via BigCommerce
  • Wrote completely new website copy
  • Captured an image bank of new product images and photography for use on website and for general digital marketing purposes
  • Edited and optimized the site for nationwide SEO discovery
  • Optimized and edited the Google Business Profile to capture top rankings in local SEO
  • Created an email blast content calendar based on seasonality, designed the emails, managed the sends and all lists, grew list size by 4x
  • Developed strategic brand partnerships with local and regional brands
  • Managed the Vic’s Facebook account, created all content, graphics, and content calendar

Outcome

100% Sales Increase
500% Online Sales
250% Gross Revenue

Here’s what happened:

We launched the rebranded Vic’s website at the end of 2019, just before Covid took over. In 2020 while all of his physical locations were forced to close except for one, buoyed by e-commerce and SEO, Vic’s gross revenue was higher in 2020 than any previous year.

We’d love to hear what’s “popping” with your brand; we’re always happy to share a few “kernels” of wisdom. Hit us up!