CHALLENGE: Smart & Final is truly unique in the food retailing universe. It began as a wholesaler, supplying businesses in the dusty frontier town of Los Angeles back in 1871. Decades later, through years of evolutionary change, the company now sells directly to more regular households than businesses in stores all over the West.
SOLUTION: Tap in to the core audience of “life’s hosts,” people persons who get their passion from providing for others. Continue nourishing communities one neighborhood at a time while gowing for the future.
SERVICES
- Comprehensive Brand Refresh
- Brand Style Guide
- Creative Development for All Advertising and In-Store
- UX-UI for Primary Website
- Front End Website Design
- Comprehensive Signing Package
- On-going Broadcast creation and distribution
THE RESULTS
We helped Smart & Final through a complete brand transformation that led to record sales increases, new store openings and they even brought the company public on the stock exchange under our guidance.
HEILBrice has been partnering with Smart & Final through a period of incredible growth and change. We helped completely reposition the brand in advance of an initial public offering, executing an in-store make-over, a new website and new broadcast support; followed almost immediately by the complex integration of a large group of locations from a failed competitor. Then we helped position the offering against by emphasizing the fact that Smart & Final is not a supermarket, but is instead something very different. A story designed for a very specific kind of customer.
GRAND OPENING
HOLIDAY POSITIONING
OWNING EVERY HOLIDAY IS A KEY INITIATIVE
TALKING TO THE TARGET
An important part of the initiative was to get credit for the incredible savings that Smart & Final delivers everyday, as well as constructing a signature design system for the stores.
FOCUS ON CHARITABLE GIVING
COMMUNITY-SPECIFIC BRANDING
HIGH IMPACT PRICING SIGNAGE
CARRYING THE MESSAGE DOWN THE AISLE
Our next efforts focused on perishable departments, like meat and produce. The message was, if your favorite neighborhood restaurants are shopping at Smart & Final, you can believe that your family will love it at home.
DISTINCTIVE AND COMPLIMENTARY TO THE DESIGN SYSTEM
DEPARTMENTAL POINTS OF DIFFERENCE
ORGANIZATION TO ENHANCE QUALITY PERCEPTION
IN-CASE MESSAGING
Research showed that Smart & Final wasn’t getting the credit it deserved for organic and local produce. New eye-level messaging makes the point clear.
Smart & Final’s fleet of delivery trucks represents a significant out of home billboard showing. Now every trailer reinforces the campaign
TRUCK SIDE ART
IN CALIFORNIA, YOU SPEND PLENTY OF TIME LOOKING AT THIS
Cover
When Smart & Final CEO Dave Hirz rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on the first day of trading, he stood in front of a strong, modern, successful brand smartly differentiated from its competition.
At HEILBrice, we often take on jobs that tradition agencies would never attempt. At Smart & Final, that involved naming and designing free-standing sections in every Smart & Final store where customers interested in organic and gourmet products can easily find them. Good & Well has been an overwhelming success, growing to over a dozen in-store sections and helping grow sales significantly.
BROCHURE
SHELF TAGS WITH NUTRITION INFORMATION
SHELVING DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE A SEPARATE DEPARTMENT IN AISLE
SET YOUR GOOSEBUMPS TO HIGH
After establishing the many benefits Smart & Final brings to their customer, we wanted to start to focus on establishing a deeper, emotional connection. And of course there is no better time than holiday season. We are very proud of this broadcast effort that we were able to pull together with this simple, timeless idea. Focusing on the thing that brings all of our their consumers together: The Table.
