EXCLUSIVE: SpartanNash Gets Inventive With AI in Big Game Ads
SpartanNash is thinking out of the box – or, actually, inside a hot tub – for its Big Game promotions ahead of this weekend’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Michigan-based food solutions company is having some fun with food imagery and popular foods consumed during the Super Bowl LIX broadcast airing this year on FOX. SpartanNash rolled out a quick marketing communications campaign created with AI to spotlight a fun snack lineup.
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After the AI assistant identified top snacks and recipes for Game Day, the tool was used to imagine what those snacks might look like. Buffalo Chicken Dip, for instance, was represented in a depiction of a buffalo and a chicken sitting in a hot tub. Pigs in a blanket and mini corn dogs were also reimagined by AI in these visuals. (Think cartoon pigs wrapped up in cozy blankets.)
The results were so entertaining that SpartanNash’s marketing group turned the images into a billboard and social media campaign ahead of the Feb. 9 Big Game.
But it isn’t all fun and games: the messaging is based on real, relevant data. “We always want to start with shopper insights and look for content to break through,” Erin Storm, SVP and chief marketing officer told Progressive Grocer in a recent interview. “We could have gone out with a message like, ‘Here are five dishes you can bring,’ but we wanted to add that visual piece to bring it to life. It’s not to get attention for attention’s sake – it’s a solution that Family Fare can deliver.”
To that point, the ads take viewers to a website and recipe, and, on interactive platforms, allow customers to load items in their digital cart to buy. “This is entertaining, but it’s also functional and solves a need for shoppers,” Storm points out.
This effort kicks off (gridiron pun intended) a fresh approach to marketing that Storm is helping guide at SpartanNash. “There’s more to come – this is the beginning of what you should expect to see from our banners for the rest of the year,” said Storm. “My background is in CPG and brand marketing, and we are looking to really bring that type of thinking to the retail grocery landscape.”
Storm joined SpartanNash as CMO in August 2024 following at 18-year tenure at Kellogg’s and its Kellanova spinoff organization. She leads a marketing function that includes the OwnBrands portfolio, retail marketing programs, e-commerce and digital experience, creative services, shopper insights and loyalty.
With 20,000 associates, SpartanNash operates two complementary business segments: food wholesale and grocery retail. Its global supply chain network serves wholesale customers that include independent and chain grocers, national retail brands, e-commerce platforms, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. On the retail side, SpartanNash operates 200 brick-and-mortar grocery stores, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin's Super Markets, and D&W Fresh Market, in addition to dozens of pharmacies and fuel centers. The company is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
