Wild Oats Helps Fresh & Easy with Fresh

El Segundo, Calif. — Fresh & Easy, a 167-store grocery chain in California, Nevada and Arizona, is testing a new strategy based on high-quality organic and fresh foods in combination with shopper convenience. In partnership with Wild Oats, the retailer launched an “It’s About Time” campaign (accompanied by the rollout of Wild Oats products) that is driven by the insight that today’s shoppers are looking for quality and affordability as well as an easy and straightforward store experience.“Since Fresh & Easy transitioned to new ownership late last year, we’ve been hard at work reinvigorating our stores and our brand,” says Mike Evans, head of marketing and digital. “We approached this campaign as an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to shoppers as a new kind of market designed for busy, modern consumers.”Ignited, a full-service advertising agency in El Segundo, played a central role in Fresh & Easy’s rebranding campaign. “The new Fresh & Easy ownership recognized that there was a gap for a different kind of market,” says Eric Johnson, president of Ignited. “Modern, time-starved consumers want convenience, but they also want the healthy, fresh food of a natural and organic healthy food grocer.”Fresh & Easy aims to fill this gap by changing its product mix and introducing brands such as Wild Oats that support its new positioning. “The campaign theme, ‘It’s About Time,’ highlights the reasons why Fresh & Easy is a new kind of market, and showcases key products that represent the commitment to the freshest foods you can get while celebrating the unique business practices that only Fresh & Easy can do,” Johnson says. “This includes fresh shipments every day of healthy Wild Oats USDA-certified organic salads and sandwiches.”Wild Oats, a subsidiary of Whole Foods, also sells its products in Walmart stores. “Wild Oats is facilitating the next phase of growth in organic retailing by bringing both scalable savings and innovation in organic fresh products,” says Tom Casey, Wild Oats CEO.A YouTube video on the Fresh & Easy website highlights Wild Oats’ just-laid eggs that go from “farm to store in 72 hours” and are marked with the “laid on” date. Other Wild Oats products now sold in Fresh & Easy stores include organic milk, sandwiches, salads, breads and hummus.The campaign reintroduced the Fresh & Easy brand via billboards, radio spots, online ads and videos. Direct emails to the existing frequent-customer database offered personalized coupons, and the in-store experience was updated through graphics and merchandising configurations that showcased the new organic and fresh food choices.“This is one of the larger marketing campaigns we have done to date,” says Fresh & Easy’s Evans. “We’ll continue to run the campaign through summer as we work to reach more and more shoppers.”The in-store materials were designed to reflect Fresh & Easy’s new visual style and call out the “It’s About Time” messaging. Signage throughout the store focuses on the key featured products like the USDA-approved organic sandwiches and salads, the freshly squeezed orange juice and the Wild Oats just-laid eggs.Ignited handled all the advertising messaging, the campaign strategy and most of the in-store elements, while Fresh & Easy did some of the in-store work internally. The first phase of the campaign hit in July, with new elements being introduced on a regular basis, including the Wild Oats offerings.Fresh & Easy’s new management team puts an emphasis on research and will be using walk-arounds with customers and other methods to help determine if the stores are meeting shopper needs.

Wild Oats Helps Fresh & Easy with Fresh

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