Food and drug retailer Safeway has teamed with Crossover Creative Group, an advertising agency that focuses on multicultural markets, to implement a marketing program in five urban areas.
Safeway, Pleasanton, CA, initially will target Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco. The markets were selected because of their large multicultural populations.
“What we’re principally looking for from them are opportunities to more effectively reach customers in urban markets,” said Brian Dowling, vice president of public affairs at Safeway. “As we’ve moved into these markets and developed our business, we’ve seen that agencies who specialize in reaching these urban markets are going to be able to help us more creatively get to that customer base.”
The marketing and advertising programs will focus around African-American, Hispanic and Asian holidays and events, said Steve Climons, creative director at Crossover, San Francisco. For instance, Safeway would have promotions around Black History Month and Kwanzaa when targeting African-Americans.
“The programs will be specific to holidays and events within those segments as well as the general holidays,” Climons said.
The program is expected to expand to other markets, such as Seattle and northern California, within a year or two, Climons said.
As of Dec. 30, Safeway operated 1,688 stores in the Western, Southwestern, Rocky Mountain, Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States and western Canada. The stores include Vons, Dominick’s, and Randalls/Tom Thumb.
