Economy Wholesale Grocers – A Fiesta 60+ Years in the Making
The Project
Have we ever mentioned how much we love working with a new client?
A new opportunity to come up with successful strategies and engaging creative, all while tackling new goals and objectives, are the things of life for the CultureSpan team. When Economy Wholesale Grocers selected us as their agency of record to help build awareness of their presence among new audiences, they served us with a bulk-level challenge that we were more than happy to take on.
Throughout Economy’s 60+ year history, they never sought out a marketing or advertising firm to help with their promotional or awareness efforts. It’s an impressive record considering how long they’ve been in business. Even more so when the pandemic is taken into consideration. However, it was certainly a wake-up call to start thinking about a marketing strategy. Not only because of the ongoing effects of the pandemic at the time but the fact that they were preparing to open a brand-new location on the other side of the city. Of course, CultureSpan was more than ready.
The Approach
Over the years, Economy has enjoyed a loyal customer base due to their longevity in the market and a customer service philosophy that goes above and beyond what one might find with a national wholesaler. However, a new location in a new area meant a big splash was needed to capture lots of potential new customers’ attention.
The overall goal was awareness, but on every level. Awareness of the new location, awareness of the opening day and general awareness for anyone who wasn’t familiar with the local grocer. As with any CultureSpan client, we wanted to be sure Economy was getting a great return on their investment so we recommended a focused approach for reaching their desired audience. This meant targeting key areas where customers live and work with a strategic digital and social media effort that was supported with traditional media vehicles that would happen to reach broader audiences as well.
Of course, announcing the opening of a new store can’t happen without an official celebration so we helped to make sure the occasion was properly commemorated. More importantly, we needed to be certain that the neighbors were aware of the festivities and that they were invited as well. In typical CultureSpan fashion, this resulted in a week-long line up of events that included guided tours, a mixer for industry professionals, a ribbon-cutting celebration to make the grand opening official and a proper fiesta to top it all off. Economy’s ”customer first” philosophy allowed for a pachanga that everyone would love with complementary food truck meals, live performances, free giveaways throughout the event and store specials for the occasion.
The Results
A celebration of this magnitude couldn’t go unnoticed, so we made neighbors and the El Paso community as a whole was aware of it with an aggressive PR campaign, social media awareness and through collaborations with leaders of neighborhood associations to be certain the word got out. And it did. The grand opening party was attended by more than 1,500 guests who lined up for all the fun throughout the entire event. If they weren’t enjoying tasty food truck fare or jamming out to the live music, they were perusing Economy’s selection of products and stocking up for home.
The campaign itself began with messaging announcing the new store while also introducing Economy to potentially new audiences before going into holiday mode shortly after the grand opening festivities. It continued into 2022 with general messaging and Economy has been pleased to report continuous increases in sales and new customers alike. More recently, Economy was awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (El Paso District) Family-Owned Business of the Year award. It’s a major testament to their commitment to the community and a reflection of customers’ brand loyalty.
Ready to make some noise for your big announcement or just looking to try a new agency? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me to see how we can help! Speak with you soon. Gabriel.Acuna@CultureSpanMarketing.com