Better Employee Morale and Higher Sales: An ADvay Success Story at Young’s Payless IGA

In January of this year, Kevin Young, owner of three Young’s Payless IGA stores, watched as an ADvay camera crew set up their equipment in one of his California stores. Young admitted that it had taken some convincing by Leigh Engelbrecht, president of ADvay Media Group, to get to this point. Even though the two had worked together for more than three years on different projects, expanding his services to include ADvay’s connected TV advertising was a bit more daunting. Young felt like it would take up too much time and he was unsure of the ROI. But finally, he agreed to a six-month proof of concept.

As the crew expertly set up their equipment, having taken care of every detail from the very beginning, Young was quickly reassured. Now, after seeing the results, Young has no doubt that participating in ADvay's connected TV advertising program was a great decision.

The ADvay Mission

Engelbrecht created ADvay Media Group seven years ago because he saw that there was a big divide between resources available to independent grocers versus their big corporate competitors.

Corporations utilize reams and reams of data about everything from customer behavior to customer segmentation, to marketing optimization, that most independent grocery stores don’t have the time or the tools to acquire. Engelbrecht wanted to even the playing field by bringing that same level of robust data to independent grocers.

While having access to the data is an important first step, it is only part of the journey. Retailers also need a plan for execution. As the media landscape has fragmented, creating this plan is just getting more and more complicated. Previously, retailers only had to worry about print, TV, radio, and billboards. Today, when digital, email, texting, YouTube, social, connected TV, over-the-top TV, and local TV, there are 30-40 different types of media to consider.

This is why Engelbrecht is also bringing his expertise in connected TV advertising and media buying to the independent grocer. With pooled resources, Engelbrecht and his ADvay team can give retailers access to connected TV advertising opportunities that they wouldn’t have available on their own. To make it as easy as possible on the retailer, ADvay provides a full connected TV advertising solution that includes creation of all the creatives, media placement, and ongoing performance analysis.

Three Filming Days

Once the crew had their lights in position and cameras ready to go, it was time to start capturing content. Young admitted to being nervous on camera at first, but the team was so friendly and so well-prepared, the nerves soon melted away. In no time, Young and the camera crew were joking around like old friends.

“They were really professional, but also really fun. It was a great time filming with them,” he said.

Any fears Young had about the process being difficult were also quickly put aside with the team incredibly prepared.

“They really took care of everything. They came in, set everything up, and had a complete plan of exactly what they wanted to film and what stories they wanted to tell,” Young added.

While Engelbrecht explains that some of the preparation techniques are ADvay’s “secret sauce,” it is very important to him and his team that everything is fully taken care of for the retailers.

“Retailers have enough on their plates running their stores. We make it very easy for them,” Engelbrecht said.

After filming the initial scene, the crew moved the cameras around inside of the store, going from department to department to film. Young's team members were also given the opportunity to be on camera. Like Young, some were nervous at first, but with such a comfortable atmosphere, they quickly forgot that the camera was there. Soon, everybody was jostling to be the next on camera.

They repeated this process over the next two days, moving through all three of Young’s Payless IGA stores in Lockeford, Pioneer, and Copperopolis, California. While the content varied slightly in each store, many of the same themes were repeated, sometimes with different team members, sometimes just to get different angles and backgrounds.

Creative Creation

After three days of filming, the crew had lots of great content to use. In fact, they had enough footage to make three to four different commercials per week for the next six months. Although Engelbrecht notes that this is a larger buy than many stores start with, they do always capture enough for at least one new ad per week.

The next step for the ADvay team was to create the ads and determine the best positioning strategy. With every client, ADvay leverages all their data to optimize ad placement for the initial rollout. This data is then closely monitored as the campaigns progress so that adjustments can be made if needed to ensure the best possible return on investment for the buy.

The Ads Begin

Within just six to eight weeks of filming, the campaign launched.

Young said that the response was immediate. Excited customers were soon coming up to him and telling him that they saw him in an ad while they were watching sports or a favorite TV show. He added that the variety of ad placement has really been impressive.

Young is not the only person at the store who has garnered a little bit of new-found fame. He said that several of his employees who appeared in the ads report being recognized around town. This has been one of Young's favorite parts of the whole experience.

“It really has been great for morale throughout the store," he said. "The employees in the ads feel more than ever that they are truly part of what we are doing.”

The Results Are In

Asked about the ongoing process, Young noted that Engelbrecht and the ADvay team would touch base regularly, showing him the results of different campaigns and making suggestions about what they should adjust and where they should increase or decrease spend. The data is so granular, he can even see exactly how many people who viewed the videos physically came into his stores afterward.

While Young admitted that he doesn’t do a deep dive into the numbers every time he gets them, it’s because he doesn’t have to. He explained that ADvay does a phenomenal job of walking him through the numbers and pointing out the most important parts.

The videos are also performing very well with viewers. While the average retail view rate is about 15%, the Copperopolis store boasts an impressive 50%.

Of course, the absolute most important data point that any store owner is going to look at is the sales. And, with that ultimate data point, Young's connected TV advertising journey has been a great success. Since starting the program six months ago, the number of transactions in each store has increased by more than 1,000 per month, resulting in a significant increase in sales at each store.

Now, with the initial proof of concept period ending, Young has no question as to whether he is going to continue or not. He is currently looking at dates to determine when to have the camera crew make a return visit to film the next six months of ads.

Engelbrecht is thrilled to have Young and the Young’s Payless IGA team continue. In fact, happy, repeat customers are common — Engelbrecht proudly shared that, since starting to offer the connected TV advertising services, nearly every existing client is still with him.

With happier employees, lots of great information, and higher profits, the videos from the connected TV advertising desk have been a clear win for Young’s Payless IGA.