Bringing a Campaign to Life: Rouses Markets

Rouses Markets, a grocer beloved by loyal shoppers in Louisiana, called on redpepper to help introduce the brand to Alabama. They needed an awareness campaign—one that would set them apart from the local staples. Follow along as we walk you through the step-by-step of how our creative process helped bring this campaign to life.

First, a little backstory. Beloved by loyal shoppers in Louisiana, Rouses Markets had built a foundation of customer loyalty on its unique position as a grocer with the produce quality of a farmer’s market and all the ease of a convenience store. As they prepared to expand outside of their home state and into retailer partnerships with Publix and Wal-Mart, however, Rouses quickly realized a need to recreate that same meaningful experience for consumers who hadn’t heard of their brand before.

Discovery

Great campaigns are fueled by knowledge and understanding. So, before we sit down for moodboarding, concepting, and creative, we discover. We gather as much information as possible to inform the direction of the campaign. For Rouses, this discovery included:

Onboarding meetings with the client. This was an opportunity for the team to align on the goal, gain firsthand knowledge, and gather any helpful materials.

Marketing & Research Audit. Once we gathered materials from the client, we analysed them with a fine-toothed comb, carrying forward helpful insights and noting any gaps that needed to be filled with our own research.

Competitive Audit. We got smart on the competition. This step helped us find an opportunity to set Rouses apart in the grocery landscape.

Customer Survey. We listened to shoppers. Clients know their brand inside and out, but the most objective information comes right from customers.

Store Visits. Roadtrip! We knew Rouses was special, but made a trip to see for ourselves. This allowed us to see Rouses from the customer’s perspective.

Key Insight Report. Once our tanks were full of information, we distilled it all down into a key insight report that would inform the campaign strategy.

Concepting

We would say this is the fun part—but we think it’s all pretty fun. Concepting holds a special, creative place in the campaign process. And when it comes to developing concepts, we are not a one-and-done kind of shop. We like to use all that we gathered in discovery and insights and let it take multiple different shapes. Then, we present our favorites back to the client (with strategy and rationale) and let them decide which they feel most emotionally connected to.

Here’s a look at 4 of the campaign concepts we presented to the Rouses marketing team:

Concept 1: A Fine Southern Grocery Store

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There’s something pleasant about a modern day grocery store that continues to uphold the simple, tried and true traditions of grocery shopping. One that doesn't play into the big-box noise or the hoity-toity nature of specialty stores. Rouses is reminiscent of a purer time—a time when good, locally-grown, hand-selected, and carefully-curated food just spoke for itself. It’s always a good idea to shop at Rouses.

Nostalgic | Refined | Delightful | Approachable

Concept 2: What it means to be Gulf coast raised

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We have our own way of doing things down here where the soul of the south meets the sea—where we take time to do things right, every neighbor is a friend and every meal a chance to come together. For generations Rouses has hand selected locally-grown food to nourish the spirit of the coast with flavors grown, raised, and sowed straight from our soil. We’re the grocery store from the Gulf, for the Gulf—supporting all that’s Gulf coast raised.

Heartfelt | Neighborly | Inclusive

Concept 3: For the joy of grocery shopping

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Grocery runs should feel less like an errand and more like an anticipated adventure—a chance to discover something new and inspiring, to a place filled with stories to uncover. Here, you might run across lobster caught just off the coast. Or ready-to-eat dishes made from timeless Louisiana recipes. Everything here is hand-selected with care, organized with love for you. So every day or on Sundays—whenever you come—you can experience the simple, unhurried joy of grocery shopping.

Optimistic | Inspiring | Playful | Idealistic

Concept 4: This is Rouses

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You may have wondered a time or two what the heck Rouses is. Well, we’d like to officially introduce ourselves. We’re a lot of things. We’re a fresh seafood market. A full-service butcher shop. A grab-and-go meal spot. A place to get your odds and ends. But above all, we’re a grocery store that supports our community. So you can feel really good about shopping locally-grown produce and carefully-curated ingredients without running around town to check off your weekly list—we’ve got all the best stuff right here.

Lighthearted | Simplified | Neighborly | Straightforward

Execution

Now we’re going to pause for dramatic effect and give you a minute to guess which campaign concept we moved forward with. Okay, now imagine a drumroll. This is Rouses was the winning concept! It uplifted the quality and variety of locally-sourced goods Rouses offers in a visually-striking, memorable way. The distinct, clean imagery and neighborly, straightforward copy would help Rouses spread awareness in a way that felt very tried and true.

Armed with a fully-fledged campaign toolkit—complete with visual direction across print, digital, and OOH placements, in-store signage recommendations, as well as social media and community activation tactics—the Rouses Markets campaign ready for launch. It was time for Alabama to meet the grocery option for the community, by the community.

View the full case study here.