Edible Arrangements International, Inc. named Cleveland-based Stern Advertising its agency of record (AOR) for national creative, including television, print and likely some online display, said Steve Thomas, chief marketing officer of Edible Arrangements, on Jan. 12.
Stern’s primary focus will be to help Edible with its branding, sales and national TV, said Steve Romanenghi, EVP and executive creative director at Stern. The work will begin immediately, with a national TV campaign set to hit the airwaves around Easter, which is one of fruit basket purveyor’s “peak holidays,” Thomas said.
Stern is being added to the company’s agency roster, which also currently includes Hot Dish Advertising and Mediacom. Hot Dish will continue as the company’s regional agency, doing some creative work for the co-op markets placed around the country and also franchise development trade advertising, while Mediacom takes care of Edible’s media buying, Thomas said.
Edible chose Stern through an RFP. Four agencies presented in what Romanenghi called a “creative shootout.”
Thomas said Edible chose Stern because its creative team “understood that we’re in the retail business and that we need to sell product to make the franchises successful.” He said Edible was also impressed by Stern’s work for Kay Jewelers and Jared.
“[Kay and Jared] have the same parent company, so Stern had to figure out how to market those two retailers without cannibalizing one or the other, which was impressive,” Thomas said.
As Edible’s business is generally occasion-based, the overall TV campaign will focus on Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and the November/December holiday period, though the ads will also be on the air during other times of the year, Romanenghi said.
Currently there are five creatives and several people on the account side working on the campaign, said Romanenghi.
