Fitger’s was a brewery right on the edge of Lake Superior. The brewery shut down the early 80’s when the Minnesota Iron Range was hit with the recession. The empty building was later bought and turned into a boutique shopping mall, restaurants and high end hotel.
This concept was the basis for a campaign I created to help the complex compete with other malls at Christmas time. The client was a group of small businesses in the Fitger’s complex that pool their advertising money together, kind of like a cooperative. It was a tough spot to be in, designing for a fluid group of businesses with different needs and identities that wanted to share an advertisement. On top of this I had 10 days from start to presentation.
The first three ads were made to be run during the holiday shopping season. They encompassed what the Fitger’s complex held; shops, restaurants, and a hotel. I wanted to get these three ideas in the mind of the reader over the course of the week and then on Sunday reinforce them all at once. That is what the fourth ad was for.
I also created some specialty ads for the Fitgers client. The Christmas ad was run a few times to help out with the frequency ads we were running in the paper. I also built some other ads for events that the Fitger’s complex held throughout the year.
The shops that banded together to do this advertising had one of their best Christmas seasons ever. It was so successful that I was told the client even used the campaign the next year. I had left by that point, but would have liked to have done more for them. This taught me the power of a good idea and good design, combined with confidence can make good things happen.
