Apple TV’s “Pluribus” recently became the streaming platform’s most viewed drama of all time as viewers flocked to the mysterious sci-fi offering from Vince Gilligan. And while an ad for “Pluribus” didn’t actually spur a schizophrenic episode, as a viral Reddit post claimed, the show does have a connection to the world of promoting.
Sprouts Farmers Market — a growing grocery chain that’s working to attach with consumers around culture — appears in two episodes of “Pluribus,” including a significant scene that gives more color in regards to the show’s strange latest world, where an alien virus has transformed most of humanity right into a peaceful hive mind. Yet this wasn’t an example of brand name integration or product placement: it was the results of a yearslong process that began when Gilligan wrote Sprouts into his scripts for the show.
While TV and film productions often ask to film in the chain’s stores, it’s not at all times a terrific fit for the brand, explained Sprouts CMO Alisa Gmelich. However, Apple’s request to film in a particular Sprouts store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, represented a singular opportunity, especially because the show was from Gilligan, the TV mastermind behind “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”
“I even have a terrific respect for his storytelling and what he puts into these shows,” Gmelich said. “But really what got here through [from Apple] was ‘We have a terrific story.’ Of course, they might only tell us a lot in regards to the script, but … it was very clear to me that the role that Sprouts was going to play in the storyline was going to be greater than only a location.”
Instead of simply being a location, Sprouts is at the middle of a five-minute scene where predominant character Carol Sturka, played by actor Rhea Seehorn, enters a location that has been completely stripped bare of groceries. She speaks with one other character over the phone and says, “I just want my Sprouts back.” Soon, a fleet of semitrucks pulls up and a crew of random people unloads the groceries and returns the shop to its former glory.
In that way, Sprouts served as an anchor to reality in a sci-fi show that has more in common with “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” than “Breaking Bad.” The indisputable fact that the show’s predominant character asks for her store to get replaced by name demonstrates the connection Sprouts’ real-life customers have with their local stores, Gmelich explained.
“As the CMO, this meant that we weren’t only a location that we were going to assist them film at. Sprouts plays a task in this very vital character’s life, and she or he is one in every of our customers,” Gmelich said. “I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to disclaim my customers.”
Amplifying an opportunity
Due to aspects including the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, there was a 12 months between inception and production of the “Pluribus” scene. In the meantime, Gmelich worked to be sure that the production could close an actual location for 2 days — including moving groceries off shelves — something that doesn’t even occur when Sprouts movies its own commercials in its stores.
“From a marketing standpoint, I had to drag some pretty big favors from my operations friends and the organization at large,” she said. “I used to be like a dog with a bone, being very emphatic that there are just a few moments where you’ll be able to show up as a brand… and you only have to know when to say ‘yes’ as a marketer.”
In the tip, “Pluribus” showcased the brand in interior and exterior shots, including Carol’s use of Sprouts-branded grocery bags, and the collaboration proved to be a terrific brand awareness play for a series that operates greater than 400 stores in 23 states. To amplify the trouble, Sprouts took to social media to tease the appearance and roll out a sweepstakes that offered customers a probability to win a $5,000 gift card and a yearlong subscription to Apple TV.
Sprouts also added “Carol’s collection” to its e-commerce site, treating the character as its customer of the month and filling a digital basket with foods that nod to moments on the show. Additionally, the chain used the cultural moment to ask customers on social media what items it couldn’t live without.
“It’s worthwhile from a research perspective. It’s also worthwhile since it’s a terrific marketing tool for other customers which can be reading through those posts to have the option to see what our other Sprouts shoppers are buying,” Gmelich said in regards to the social listening effort. “Being capable of cross over and get customers to think in regards to the store in another way is a fun method to to encourage some latest behaviors.”
Connecting with customers
While its appearance in “Pluribus” was an organic opportunity, Sprouts has worked to attach with customers around culture in other ways. The grocer in 2021 became the back-of-jersey sponsor for Angel City Football Club, a team in the National Women’s Soccer League, and quickly found women’s sports to be an apt pairing for a series where greater than 60% of consumers are women.
Women’s sports can be a spotlight of Sprouts’ marketing work because the official healthy grocer of the SEC and Big 12 conferences. The chain has done greater than 150 name, image and likeness deals with female athletes as a part of its wellness-centered PowHERed by Sprouts platform, which attracts connections between on- and off-the-field activities and the needs of its customer base.
“It has given us a fairly phenomenal platform to construct off of, and a terrific opportunity to attach with some amazing female athletes which have connections back to our stores,” Gmelich said.
Additionally, Sprouts has moved into the loyalty space with the nationwide rollout of Sprouts Rewards, which began in Q3. While Gmelich admits it took the brand “a bit bit longer” to launch a loyalty program, the time has allowed Sprouts to find out tips on how to deliver personalized value, including information and early access to the 7,000 latest SKUs that come to its stores annually.
“Yes, there may be a savings component, because that’s at all times incredibly vital to our customers, but really leaning into the personalization, that is how we’re continuing to construct the features and the advantages,” the chief said.
Along with loyalty, Sprouts is working to develop an in-house retail media network that’s separate and distinct from its partnership with Instacart, Gmelich told Marketing Dive via email. That function will likely be under the CMO’s purview together with functions like brand constructing to loyalty.
“I have a look at every little thing through the lens of the shopper to be sure that as we’re developing our go-to-market plan… we’re doing a terrific job specializing in the shopper and the experience that we would like to create for them,” Gmelich said.
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