Growing a good grocery in an over-retailed market.

After helping name, design and position Mariano’s as a place to “Shop well. Eat well. Live well.”, early explosive growth across Chicagoland had slowed due to rapid expansion and uninformed consumers failing to appreciate how different the Mariano’s shopping experience really was. Our ongoing Good Brands social media audits showed users excited about spotting local celebrity chefs shopping at Mariano’s new downtown stores, bolstered by context reports showing deep consumer pride in Chicago’s foodie culture. Our idea was to help consumers “experience the Mariano’s difference” by engaging them in virtual shopping trips with Chicago’s top chefs. We developed the “Tastemakers” campaign with the line “People who get food get it here,” and ended up recruiting more than 17 of Chicago’s top chefs to participate through print ads, online content, recipe creation, personal store appearances and co-marketing with the chefs’ restaurants.