Talon's Treehouse: February 2015

A little while back my phone rang and it was a former coworker on the other end of the line. She'd recently accepted a position for Chicago's notable grocery and drug retailer, Jewel-Osco--or as we in the city fondly refer to them as, "da Jewels." (As in, "I'll be home after work but I gotta pick up more brats and Pepto at da Jewels.") Anyway, they were in desperate need of a new social media director and having seen some of my stuff online, said former coworker jumped at the chance to bring me on-board.

The problem: they were looking to fill the position in about 36 hours. Someone who could push their online presence into the modern age. It was a Thursday evening when she called and time was quickly ticking away, so in order to be considered, I had to crank out something in record time. No stranger to crushing deadlines and always up for a challenge, I told her I'd send her something within 24 hours and rushed to my computer.

My first step was to see what they'd been doing on their web and social networking sites under the previous director. I was happy to discover that the content was minimal and boring, to say the least. If they had a target demographic it was someone my grandmother's age who would undoubtedly find the posts easy to digest between afternoon naps, provided they had a computer...which my grandmother does not. There was nothing fun or unique about any of it and I cracked my knuckles, put on my thinking cap and started to formulate my pitch.

My concept was to switch their focus from generic, outdated content about coupons and 2-for-1 deals to a more active social online presence. Meaning, if people followed them on facebook, twitter, etc., the company should have an online personality and talk to their supporters like a pal, not just a cyber version of a weekly mailer. I envisioned them becoming more like an online source of friendly information, sprinkled with a little humor, who'd pop up on folks' feeds a few times a day to generate impulse trips to the locations, inspired by the suggested yet playful updates and memes that would be less tired old reminders and more like a thoughtful heads-up with an air of whimsey.

I cranked the entire campaign proposal in 24 hours and sent it off, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. After a few hours of napping to re-charge the soul, I got a call from my former coworker who informed me that she was very sorry, but the position had been filled...by the first person who'd walked through the office door. They didn't have a plan, didn't have a pitch, they were just alive and could speak English. She felt terrible for me and added, "I don't even think they bothered to look at what you sent. They literally hired the very first human being who walked in the building." It was quite a crash from the rush I felt after churning out what I thought was a pretty fun and unique idea.

And while it was sad that what I did was brushed aside without consideration, I'm grateful to my former coworker for thinking of me and giving me a shot.

So here's some of the material I put together that was never seen by anyone in charge. I still enjoy the concept and wonder sometimes how things might have gone had they bothered to take a look:

This was an attempt to show them how a more stylized and easier-to-navigate design for their website could take them into the present day and shake off the generic look they'd been running with for years

An example of a playful meme that would pop up on feeds as a lighthearted way of keeping a strong online presence

One proposed daily feature I really liked was the idea for something interactive, in which followers submitted their recipies using food bought from the store--I think people like exhibiting their kitchen creations and enjoy trying to recreate food ideas when one strikes their fancy. This is an example of what something like that might have looked like

Capitalizing on the local slang for the store, I created a character named Jules who would act as a sale and specials alert from day to day. I've always had a deep fondness for the hand-drawn grocery ads from my childhood and she would've been fun to play with

Mock twitter post that would target specific neighborhoods during the day

An example of a foodie meme that would pop up on feeds as an entertaining means for keeping the company name on the virtual landscape

Apparently they were really concerned about selling their new selections of U.S.D.A. beef, so I came up with a character like Jules to pitch the sale items in retro-style alerts like this

And finally, in an attempt to appeal to the infotainment audience, an example of a daily feed feature that focused on trivia and keen little factoids

I thought it was a pretty solid effort for something done under the gun. It's too bad they didn't even bother to take a look, but, thems is da breaks. Still, it was a thrill to try and for getting it all done in a day, I think I did alright.