Case Study

How Iwi Life Educates Customers with QR Codes

I wanted to create custom experiences, without having to develop a landing page.

iwi life is a plant-based supplement company with a sustainable mission. Its flagship product is an Omega-3 supplement that is grown sustainably on sea algae farms in the deserts of New Mexico using only recycled salt water and energy from sunlight. The company was started in 2016. Its products are currently sold in Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods, HEB, Sprouts, Amazon, and via its Shopify store. 

It has a very different approach compared to traditional Omega-3 brands that are derived from fish and krill oil. What most people don’t know is that fish and krill, don’t generate any Omega-3. It comes from algae. iwi life skips the fish which puts less strain on ocean life and goes directly to the source in an efficient and sustainable way.    

 

Challenge

iwi life’s biggest challenge is differentiation in a retail setting. In retailers, iwi life sits on the shelf next to many different Omega-3 supplements. All of those products are manufactured with fish and krill oils. Not only is iwi life different in how it harvests Omega-3, but it also is unique in that it’s a complete supplement with many other naturally occurring fatty acids which allows for 1.7x the absorption than fish and krill oils. 

iwi life had no way to share that and their compelling sustainability story. They had been testing out QR codes with Beaconstac, but it was “very basic and had no personality.” It simply acted as a redirect to Product Detail Pages. 

Their initial test with QR codes left them desiring more. “I wanted to create custom experiences, without having to develop a landing page.” says e-commerce manager, Carlos Baldominos.

The Solution 

The iwi life team connected with Brij and was thrilled with the richness of the mobile experience. Brij’s video background immediately breathed life into what would normally be a static experience.

To solve their differentiation problem, iwi life’s primary call to action is to “learn more.” iwi Life’s Youtube Channel has an assortment of educational videos, including a segment from the award-winning series, Earth with John Holden. In the video, John Holden tours the iwi lifealgae farm. With Brij, iwi life is now hosting this video in their QR code experience. 

The experience also contains a product snapshot with the option to visit the PDP. This snapshot is different for every SKU. “It was really important that we could customize ourselves and do it fast. Each new Brij experience takes 5 minutes to spin up,” says Baldominos.  From there a buyer can get more product-level information and buy from their phone if they chose.  

Additional discovery options include

  • Email list sign up
  • FAQs
  • Click to call or email
  • Social media links

Icing on the Cake

Baldominos also tested the Brij QR code experience with direct mail. The first program was a subscription win-back campaign. That campaign delivered almost 6x ROAS. That ROAS figure only includes the first month of the subscription! iwi life is now gearing up for it’s second win-back campaign. 

iwi life is also planning another mailer campaign aimed at driving prospective buyers to Whole Foods to drive in-store sales. Those mailers will use the Brij QR code experience in conjunction with their store locator. 

Baldominos says, “Brij is the best QR code option for brands with a Shopify store.” On the horizon, he is looking forward to trying some of Brij’s newer features like the SMS rebate feature to drive in-store sales. He is also looking forward to testing Brij experiences as the landing page destination for Facebook ads.