GIANT FOOD
this is home
We used the power of scrapbooks and spoken word poetry to turn Giant into the heartbeat of their community.
Brand and Creative Strategy, Copywriting and Concept Development, Graphic Design and Art Direction, Video Production, Influencer Activation, Social Media Strategy and Content Production, Public Relations
The Challenge
Born in 1936, Giant Food is the oldest grocer across all of DC, Maryland and Virginia (the DMV). But while they were the market leader (in arguably the most competitive grocery market in the country), their age was catching up to them. They needed to find a way to connect with younger audiences without alienating their older loyalists.
The Solution
If the kitchen is the center of the home, then Giant’s legacy should make them the center of the community.
Instead of deals, discounts, and deli, we used scrapbooks and spoken word poetry to bring youth back to the Giant brand, connecting with DMV shoppers at a deeper emotional level and urging them to fall in love (or back in love) with their hometown grocer.
The
Hero videos
While we knew we wanted to create a campaign that could build the brand on a more emotional level, we also knew we couldn’t forget the importance of emphasizing the brand’s functional growth drivers, including value and e-commerce. So, we led with a chest-pounding 60-second Brand Anthem and supported it with a series of English and Spanish 30- and 15-second spots to highlight their growth drivers—while never sacrificing the emotional integrity of the spoken word artform.
The Brand Refresh
This wasn’t just a one-off campaign look and feel for Giant, but a full refresh of the brand’s identity as a whole. From high-level campaign awareness ads down to in-store signage and coupon clippers, hundreds of assets throughout the entire marketing funnel were overhauled to show off Giant’s new look at every touchpoint.
Local Artist Shopping Bags
To extend the campaign further, we partnered with a series of local DMV visual artists to create custom reusable shopping bags, inspired by what “Home” meant to each of them.
The Thought Leadership
We also jumped at the opportunity to co-author a thought leadership story with our partners from Giant for Ad Age that showcases how the campaign came to life.
The Influencer Activation
We wanted to ensure real DMV spoken word artists had a chance to be personally involved and become authentic spokespeople for a grocery store they actually shop at. So, as an extension of the campaign, we asked our poets from the lead production as well as a network of other poets across the DMV area to write original spoken word pieces that reflected each of their own personal experiences with the brand as additional social content.
Tatiana
Cookie B
O-Slice
Nikki Ohhh
The Results
So, did it work? Within just the first month of airing, we saw a 28% increase in new store visitors. Plus, a subsequent Brand Lift survey of DMV residents who had seen the campaign found that:
