Sunflower Market Self-pollinates Way to Top Honors
MINNEAPOLIS -- The creative agency for Sunflower Market, the four-store organic and natural wholly owned subsidiary of Supervalu, Inc. here, helped the retailer achieve top billing on MarketingSherpa's 2007 Viral Marketing Hall of Fame list.
Introduced in Indianapolis, Sunflower Market was created with the specific intent of making organics welcoming -- more fun, less political/pretentious, far more affordable -- to suburban "everymoms." OLSON's charge was to break down the barriers of their "organophobia" in a guerilla way.
Weeks before the launch, key media contacts received branded sunflower pots with seeds and dirt. "By the time the seeds germinate," said the mailer, "you will have seen the sunny new face of organics." The week before the grand opening, fields of sunflowers spontaneously began popping up in front lawns and along major thoroughfares throughout the community, ultimately driving shoppers to discover what had just popped up in their neighborhood.
Online, OLSON created the "Amazing Growing Virtual Sunflower," which enables users to grow the downloadable desktop plant or kill it, depending on how much water, sunlight, and fertilizer they give it each day. They can then e-mail their sunflower to brighten the days of friends and family, and, of course, spread the word of Sunflower Market.
"The Sunflower brand has such a special place in our hearts," said Tom Fugleberg, OLSON's executive creative director. "We partnered with our clients through every possible aspect of its creation, from naming, to in-store experience, to developing a viral campaign to introduce it. So this honor is particularly meaningful for us all."
OLSON, headquartered in Minneapolis, is a 10-time EFFIE-award-winning agency providing brand strategy, advertising, interactive, design, public relations, and media services for some of the world's most-respected brands, including Supervalu, Nike, Bauer Hockey, Target, Detroit Pistons, ConAgra, Novartis, Sallie Mae, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Introduced in Indianapolis, Sunflower Market was created with the specific intent of making organics welcoming -- more fun, less political/pretentious, far more affordable -- to suburban "everymoms." OLSON's charge was to break down the barriers of their "organophobia" in a guerilla way.
Weeks before the launch, key media contacts received branded sunflower pots with seeds and dirt. "By the time the seeds germinate," said the mailer, "you will have seen the sunny new face of organics." The week before the grand opening, fields of sunflowers spontaneously began popping up in front lawns and along major thoroughfares throughout the community, ultimately driving shoppers to discover what had just popped up in their neighborhood.
Online, OLSON created the "Amazing Growing Virtual Sunflower," which enables users to grow the downloadable desktop plant or kill it, depending on how much water, sunlight, and fertilizer they give it each day. They can then e-mail their sunflower to brighten the days of friends and family, and, of course, spread the word of Sunflower Market.
"The Sunflower brand has such a special place in our hearts," said Tom Fugleberg, OLSON's executive creative director. "We partnered with our clients through every possible aspect of its creation, from naming, to in-store experience, to developing a viral campaign to introduce it. So this honor is particularly meaningful for us all."
OLSON, headquartered in Minneapolis, is a 10-time EFFIE-award-winning agency providing brand strategy, advertising, interactive, design, public relations, and media services for some of the world's most-respected brands, including Supervalu, Nike, Bauer Hockey, Target, Detroit Pistons, ConAgra, Novartis, Sallie Mae, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.