It’s often difficult for “traditional” retailers to tell the tale of the tape when it comes to their digital marketing initiatives (tale of the tape, in this instance, meaning “+ incremental $$$ in the register”), yet most c-suite retail marketers inherently “know” (or have been told, ad nauseam) that there’s oil in them there hills.
It’s been a while since my faithful employer has hit the national airwaves (at least in scale), but I’m nonetheless excited about the work that’s been created to give our brand a voice. Introducing “Simple”.
So much has been written in the last week about the litany of pros and cons the partnership between the Gap and Groupon has created (NPR: here, CNN: here, everyone else: here) that I almost decided to scrap this post (/hates being a talking head). But, I think we’ve got a little data that supports retailers loving these promotions… (WARNING: This is going to take a while)
Symbols are nothing new here (either on the blog or as part of the conversation), and to a marketer there is no more pertinent symbol in our professional lives than the brand we’re hired on to propagate.
As of 8 a.m. this morning I took my post as “Ass’t Marketing Manger | Content & Promotions” at Save-a-Lot food stores (corporate headquarters based out of Earth City, MO; my new work home). And before you drop the proverbial, “Oh, Assistant to the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin…and so on” jokes; I’ll be straight forward with you, this post is going to be a really great place for me (in my most humble and snap-judgment of opinions).
The view from 5,000 feet (give or take): Save-a-Lot operates nearly 1,200 high-value food stores nationwide. We span the gamut of rural, suburban and urban communities and work to always be “consumer centric” (a little corporate speak, I know, but definitely the marching orders in my first day, go figure). We’re a wholly owned subsidiary of Supervalu (SVU) a Fortune 100 company (brands like Jewel-Osco, Shop n’ Save and Albertson’s).
So, why do they need me? Well, it just so happens they were looking for someone who knew their way around a NASCAR track and could also hack it on the digital marketing side. Basically, I support our Digital and National marketing teams, ensuring that all of our traditional promotions (be it our NASCAR sponsorship of the #60 Nationwide Series entry -or- our wide array of in-store promotions) are integrated seamlessly online. It’s really a gig made in heaven for me; NASCAR sponsorships, and the ability to nerd-out around a computer all day, perfect.
For your viewing pleasure (even includes a ridiculous music overlay!):
Peace.
mjb
(And a shout out to my friends @NGAGEnow; an awesome opportunity to work with some of the hardest working people in Saint Louis, and they threw a pretty rocking “Wine Wednesday” party, too)
