While most grocery stores see a seasonal boost, Fresh Thyme faced year-over-year declines in holiday sales, signaling a need to rethink their approach during this critical retail period.
project brief.
Despite Fresh Thyme’s loyal Midwest customer base, the brand often lost visibility during the competitive holiday season. To address this, we proposed a locally targeted campaign designed to elevate Fresh Thyme to the level of well-known competitors like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s—positioning it as a top-of-mind destination for holiday shopping.
The campaign included two seasonally timed ads: a Thanksgiving spot and a more general holiday spot for the weeks following. This approach allowed us to tailor messaging to key moments in the season and showcase a wide variety of festive dishes and desserts, reinforcing Fresh Thyme’s culinary range. By running the campaign in a single market, we created a controlled environment to measure impact and determine if the strategy should be expanded to other regions.
At its heart, the campaign was built to strengthen emotional connections with customers, capturing the warmth of the holidays and showing that shopping at Fresh Thyme feels as welcoming as having neighbors over for dinner.
Fresh Thyme
Thanksgiving
Fresh Thyme
Holiday
results.
The campaign reached millions in the Greater Chicago area and drove a noticeable boost in Fresh Thyme’s holiday sales. As the campaign continues to run, these positive effects are expected to grow year over year, encouraging more customers to choose Fresh Thyme for their holiday shopping.
production process.
When working with food, timing and preparation are everything. To ensure a smooth and successful shoot, we prioritized giving our food stylist ample time and resources to prepare in advance, especially important for a Thanksgiving campaign featuring the iconic turkey centerpiece.
Preparing a picture-perfect turkey is no small feat, let alone five. Our food stylist worked tirelessly in the days leading up to production, ensuring all dishes were prepped and oven-ready. On set, only final plating and finishing touches were needed. This efficiency was crucial, as the campaign included a photography component that ran alongside video production, requiring a seamless choreography between the two.
Location played a key role in capturing the desired tone: a warm, idyllic, middle-class family Thanksgiving that felt distinctly Chicagoan. Working with Levinson Locations, we found the perfect home in Barrington, Illinois—a suburb just northwest of the city. The location provided not only the aesthetic our clients wanted but also the practical space to support a full-scale production without incurring additional costs such as city permits, road closures, or extensive trailer setups.
By aligning pre-production, styling, and logistics, we ensured both the food and the setting delivered the emotional warmth and visual polish needed to make the campaign resonate.
project team.
cast.
Baker
Farmer
Florist
Fisherman
Mother Thanksgiving
Father Thanksgiving
Son Thanksgiving
Grandma Thanksgiving
Grandpa Thanksgiving
Mother Holiday
Father Holiday
Daughter Holiday
Son Holiday
Grandmother Holiday
Voiceover
Casting Director
Production Co.
Producer + Director
1st AD
Key Set PA
Key Set PA
Cinematographer
1st AC
2nd AC
Photographer
Digi Tech
Gaffer
Key Grip
Best Electric
Best Grip
Sound Mixer
Production Designer
Art Assistant
Food Stylist
Food Stylist Assistant
Food Stylist Assistant
Locations Manager
Wardrobe Stylist Day 01
Wardrobe Stylist Day 02
H&MU
Lead Editor
Sound Designer
Colorist
Camera Rental
Lighting Rental
Floral Arrangements
Locations Company
Production Supplies
Colorist Co.
McKeely Malas
Connor Green
Kianna Rose
Shawn Dodd
Libby Conkle
Matt Gall
Alex Sudol
Margaret Mulrooney
David Valenta
Alana Charise
Brannon Smith
Learia Charise
Zane Charise
Jennifer Jones
Halle Griffee
Andrew Hunter
Wax & Wane
Sean Valdivieso
Ashley Annita
Gracie Joan
Ally Iseminger
Alex Allgood
Chat Matthews
Matt Bette
Frederic Cisneros
Josh Marrah
Ryan Zeller
Max Skelton
Josue Briones
Stephen Brown
Max Osadchenko
Loren Valdivieso
Jan Diaz
Lisa Bishop
Margaret Martin
Tucker Bishop
Liz Amdahl
Francesca Dupont
Emily Alexander
Lauren Litwin
Sean Valdivieso
Colton Jackson
Sam Howells
No Usual
No Usual
Studio LV
Levinson Locations
Chicago Film Supplies
Ethos Studio