At FIRNW, the student-run advertising agency at Portland State University, we had the pleasure of working with Olympia Provisions, a popular local restaurant and salumeria. For their 2018 holiday campaign, we wanted to change what they had been doing in the past.
Previously, Olympia Provisions had run an email heavy campaign during the holidays, featuring special deals and discounts.
During their 2017 holiday campaign, they had seen an increase in the number of people buying their products, but they did not see as big an impact on sales, due to the high amount of promotional deals they were offering.
In our research for this campaign, we found out that Olympia Provisions appealed to a wide range of people. Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers each frequently went to dine at Olympia. To help Olympia see an increase in sales, we knew they had to steer away from the discounts, but we also wanted to do something they had never done before.
The challenge was, how do we create something that will effectively reach three drastically different generations?
Our solution: A magazine.
We found through our research that the type of person that went to Olympia Provisions loved to cook and host dinner parties. This was true across all generations. They loved doing things themselves, and being around friends and family.
While our target demographic loved to cook, they didn't always have the ingredients, or knowledge on how to cook items like the ones served at Olympia Provisions. There were also few resources for how to handle unexpected situations at holiday dinner parties. Which, we also found through our research, and personal knowledge, was something that everyone struggled with.
All of this lead to our creation of the Olympia Provisions Holiday Survival Guide. A magazine filled with articles with tips on how to handle unexpected guests, stocking the pantry, and unhelpful kitchen helpers, just to name a few. We wanted to help the Olympia audience, by passing on the extensive knowledge of the owners of Olympia Provisions.
By providing solutions that did, and did not include Olympia Provisions products, we provided the audience with the best knowledge on how to survive the holidays. We wanted to make sure they were properly prepared, regardless if the proper solution was using Olympia Provisions. We cared more about their holidays going smoothly, than selling a few products.
The magazine was a success, as Olympia Provisions saw an increase in sales compared to the 2017 holiday campaign.
(Articles written by me: How To Stock Your Pantry pg.6, How To Handle a Tim pg. 13, The Unhelpful Kitchen Helper pg.16)
Olympia Magazine