Metro / Food Basics
Super fresh experiences.
A very Irrésistible Holiday
The halls were decked with red and gray for Metro and their newly refreshed private label brand, Irrésistible. Everyone’s new go-to for festive eats, of course.
We took over a prominent storefront in Toronto’s Union Station and reimagined it as a classic Toronto condo, completely colour-drenched in the brand’s colours. Every corner was considered: a shoppable pantry, living room photo op, a dining area with sampling, and a kitchen checkout complete with a faux stovetop and stainless steel fridge doors concealing the backroom entrance. Throughout the weeks leading up, I pored over colour matching the right reds for the tablescape, festive-but-inclusive decor, and even sat hand-stitching the tablecloth the right length and the napkin ring bows into place. None of the red prefab ones did the trick, so I suppose I can add “ad hoc napkin ring designer” to my resumé.
Picture frames featured festive offers and recommended unconventional food pairings, and our brand ambassadors greeted guests in cozy sweaters and branded red aprons. Altogether, it was a dream hosting setup brought to life.
With more than 300,000 daily commuters passing through the station, the goal was to intercept holiday shoppers on their way to festive get-togethers and with their own party planning on the brain. Those stopping by tried rotating daily samples, with many daily repeat visitors, and a select number took home full-size products each day to enjoy.
After 18 days in December, we gave away 11,000 full-size products. Those in attendance had more positive feelings towards Irrésistible, and post-event survey respondents said they were more likely to buy Irrésistible products in the future.
Made in Canada Summer Tour
For Metro and Food Basic’s summer activation series, they were looking to combine low-tech play while promoting their Canadian products and suppliers.
The tents the grocery chains intended to sample out of were then turned into smaller versions of their stores, both inside and out. The exteriors were designed to reflect the exteriors of existing stores, while the insides were adapted to match their merchandising and leveraged photos of their produce shelves.
Amongst the products, the “Made in Canada” maple leaf symbol that both chains had been using was hidden within the products for attendees to find in exchange for free product and coupons.
After a summer full of smiles, good food, lines of excited customers, and Canadian pride, the tour was overall a great success,
In total, the games saw 15K+ games played, along with cleared out product shelves and coupons distributed. And, Metro and Food Basics saw increased awareness for their new Moi rewards program.
All in all, it was an excellent summer of Metro and Food Basics proudly getting Canadians more acquainted with their Canadian products.
Summer Tote Series
For their summer sampling, Metro and Food Basics wanted to celebrate the communities they cater to. They wanted to share their products in a way that felt personal, and would remind customers to come back to their stores.
I dove in, combining two of my oldest loves: illustration and in-depth research. Thus began an illustrative series of ingredients and products reflecting the events the sampling team would visit.
Events like the Lebanese Festival led to depicting ingredients such as parsley, garlic, sesame seeds, and chickpeas, while the Ottawa Dragonboat Festival took a cheekier approach with a dragonfruit.
Once designed, we printing them of soft cotton canvas totes for teams of brand ambassadors to visit festivals with and guerrilla sample. The bags were a hit with consumers, excited by the ingredient designs and the products inside that aligned to each event. In the end we were left with happy customers, happy clients, and of course, some very delicious food!
Totes were cleared out. Products were enjoyed. And more importantly, current and prospective customers felt seen and understood.
