HICKORY FARMS

Out-of-Season Campaigns

INCREASING BRAND RELEVANCE YEAR-ROUND

Hickory Farms has long been recognized as a seasonal brand, with the majority of their business and revenue coming through during the months of November and December. In an effort to increase the brand’s relevance year-round, and increase Hickory Farms’ online sales, we created unique campaigns for three ancillary holidays and produced online and offline ads and content marketing for each.

By leveraging Hickory Farms’ positioning as the purveyor of traditions, while evolving the brand to incorporate more contemporary messaging through content matter, tone-of-voice and more modern aesthetics, we provided Hickory Farms with manageable campaign ideas and executables for Valentine’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day.

We kicked-off the process of establishing Hickory Farms as a year-round food-gifting brand with the “Man, Up” campaign, which granted customers permission to try something new and flip the script by focusing on him this Valentine’s Day. Deliverables included a campaign landing page with an interactive survey, downloadables and supportive category pages, display media, SEO, paid search, email and social content.

The “Food for Thought” campaign followed to support consumer interest in identifying unique or atypical gifts for Easter. In an effort to position relevant Hickory Farms products as an easy, viable choice for those hosting or joining in an Easter celebration, we created a series of digital banners, emails and social content focusing on random and witty food facts and observations in relation to the holiday.

Using insights gained from the positive response to our evolving tone and messaging, we continued to develop appropriate and engaging messaging and solutions intended to increase Hickory Farms’ relevance year-round with our Father’s Day campaign. We created “Dad’s No Joke” to address the niche occupied by Dads’ propensity towards gift experiences versus product-centric consignments. Messaging, while humorous and light-hearted, was replete with relevant and actionable tactics throughout the entire purchase cycle: awareness through purchase.

Our efforts set the tone for future campaigns and messaging which continued to amplify awareness of Hickory Farms as a food-gifting destination and, moreover, a relatable brand.

Man, up

Let's be honest. Like diamonds, flowers and appletinis, Valentine's Day is predominantly about her. Don't get stuck in the stereotype. Flip the script...give it to him this Valentine's Day. It's pretty easy and he'll never expect it. We all know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So commit to the flip...Show HIM you care.

Dad’s No Joke

Lots of words describe Dad's humor...funny, probably isn't one of them. But when you think about it, that's not really the point of Dad humor. This Father's Day, give your old man a break, because: all those goofy one-liners – they were for you. The painful Rocky and Bullwinkle impressions – for you. The dreaded pull-my-finger gag...yeah, ok. That was for Dad. But you laughed too. The embarrassing buffoonery he displayed while playing chauffeur to you and your friends, the awkward dance "skills" he threw down while chaperoning your high school dances, the lampoonery he flashed on family vacations – they were all for you.

Because those weren't jokes he was telling. To him, they were a right of passage. And they weren't bad—they were dad. And he was Dad, because of you.

He may not have been funny...but he's certainly no joke. So dispense with the eye-rolling, the sideways glances and the groaning, and humor Dad. Because he still does it all, for you.

Food for Thought

This Easter, we’d like to contribute more than just the great food for the occasion. Some delicious conversation starters, perhaps some tasty mind-treats to nibble on. Some...food for thought, if you will.

So, did you know 76% of Americans eat the ears of the chocolate bunny first and only 5% start at the feet? Why the colossal chasm? We can’t say for sure...but it’s certainly something to ponder Easter morning while you’re sitting in church. Or how ‘bout this...Americans consume 700 million marshmallow chicks every Easter. That’s roughly one of those yellow bad-boys every 3.5 seconds. Think of how many thousands of gallons of dye it takes to make that many. Not to mention how many bags of marshmallows. You can work that one out while Aunt Millie’s in the kitchen cutting the cheese...you know, the aged cheddar from the Salami and Cheese basket she brought.

There are tons of interesting and obscure facts about Easter that are fun to ponder and as purveyors of fun things for the holidays, we’re happy to bring you food for the table...and food for thought