MISSION: Establish Central Market as a place where people can find the best ingredients, experience exciting new flavors, and get the very best advice from bonafide foodies. Our pitch-winning positioning was, "Central Market. Where to go to grow your taste."
IDEA: Channel Central Market's obsession with food through a unique brand voice, equal parts foodie, and appetite concierge. Our rallying cry? "Chew With Your Mind Open" which I'm proud to say I wrote during our initial OOH exploration after winning the business.
RESULTS: Same-store sales increased every year that we had the business, until the economy tanked in ’07.. HEB subsequently consolidated the Central Market account under the HEB brand at The Richards Group, where they continue to draft off the personality of my Central Market radio campaign.
NOTE: I've included only pieces I personally wrote unless otherwise noted. To that point, the "Confuse your Juicer" outdoor board was written by Brian Jordan, while the "For That One Tooth" OOH line was penned by freelancer Adam Butler for a different assignment. I've included the outdoor in this mix because it was done under my creative direction.
Other creatives who pitched in along the way include CD/AD James Mikus (CD)/AD) writers Brian Jordan, Tannen Campbell, and Adam Butler. Art directors Michael Anderson, Beau Hanson, Rob Story, and April Mathis also worked their magic. Central Market also kept mc-j's design department hopping, helmed by the vastly talented David Kampa.
The Central Market grocery bag was written in its entirety by designer Ben Harman. I would have gladly revised it so I could have shared in the glory if it hadn't been perfect as he presented it to me. Damn designers.
Suffice it to say that Central Market was an account I genuinely enjoyed sinking my brain into. Just thinking about it makes my imagination hungry.
I wrote all of the Central Market radio at McGarrah Jessee except for one Hatch Festival spot, written by Tannen Campbell. I cast Austin voice talent Robert Kraft to play Central Market's food-obsessed alter ego and reveled in producing these radio spots in cahoots with audio engineer Shayna Levin Brown (now of Austin's Chez Boom). Director of Marketing, Frank Hamlin, was like having a fellow creative on the case. Presenting to Frank and Stephen Butt, CEO of Central Market, was always a hoot. It's not every client that will let you be downright silly. We had some good laughs.
All spots produced by Meredith Roach, voiced by Robert Kraft, mixed and engineered by Shayna Brown, and written by yours truly.
