OBJECTIVES:
Omaha, Nebraska-based Spirit World wanted to grow their retail business more aggressively. Before the campaign, they had growth spurts, but not what owner, Laurie Hellbusch Wolford was hoping for against local competitors. With the holidays quickly approaching we had to determine our target, act fast and get a campaign in place if we wanted to stave off another mediocre year. The client wanted to track everything and their objective was set at growing 1% per month or 12% per year.
EXECUTION:
When Brandscapes asked Spirit World what the demographics of their customer base was they weren’t entirely sure citing that they were going from hearsay evidence. So, our first step was to define the audience.
To stay within a modest budget we did this by handing out simple surveys at the cash register that customers could fill out and leave with the cashier. The survey asked two simple questions; which radio stations do you listen to and are you male or female. We were able to take the tabulations of this survey and match it up with demographic reach from metro radio, print and outdoor advertising groups.
Step Two was to simplify Spirit World’s messaging. The execution of their previous logo’s type to image ratio was so out-of-proportion Spirit World was always forced into making their logo large so you could read the Spirit World name but then the wine glass art took up the remaining ad space. Brandscapes reproportioned the ratio to make the type the focal point, this made it much easier to put a message together in visual media without the logo competing for the majority of precious space in the ads and outdoor.
The final step was to focus the message. Previously Spirit World had been combining all of their services in one medium creating visual confusion in the print and outdoor as well as audio confusion within their radio spots. Brandscapes suggested focusing on one message per medium which was met with reluctant participation but approved by Laurie citing she had a big “I told you so,” awaiting our failure.
Brandscapes created a campaign to boost fourth quarter halloween through holiday “spirit” sales through outdoor and catering sales through radio and print. When the outdoor and radio went live we took to Facebook to strike up conversation about Spirit World.
RESULTS:
This campaign was tracked by quarterly sales revenue. During this period sales increased in every category including liquor: +23%, wine: +20%, beer: +27% and an overall sales increase of +23%—a 7.6% per month increase which eclipsed the 1% per month goal by 760%. Average sale value per transaction went up $12.95 making this their best quarter ever—dating back almost a decade, when Laurie bought the store.
“We knew exactly where we had to be for this to be a success, Spirit World is and was Omaha’s original wine, spirits and deli and we wanted them to rightfully reclaim their top position in the marketplace. Staking their claim in Omaha’s history was a big part of the campaign.” said John Hardy.
OTHER:
Owner, Laurie Hellbusch Wolford, had just redesigned her logo before we started working with Spirit World. Updates we made to a new logo had to incorporate elements from the old one.
Spirit World also had purchased outdoor for Halloween prior to our first meeting at the end of September. We knew Halloween outdoor could garner a lot of attention as well as be fun so after a short brainstorm session with the client we selected two ideas to incorporate into the rotation on the digital billboard at 72nd and Pacific, just three blocks from the store, replacing the designs from the outdoor company—Laurie noted an instant increase in foot traffic.
SUMMARY:
The opening of another nearby beer, wine, spirit and deli-based retail outlet added another player in Omaha’s already competitive category. Brandscapes helped Spirit World streamline their busy creative and re-branded Spirit World as Omaha’s original beer, wine, spirits and deli business. The “Making Spirits Bright” campaign surpassed Spirit World’s business goal by 760% during Fourth Quarter.