Food Lover’s Market

Summer
Campaign
2026

Creative campaign concept

ClientFood Lover’s Market

Campaign window1 January – 31 March 2026

Date prepared4 September 2026

Project

Overview

Develop an overarching Summer Campaign for Food Lover’s Market running from January to March 2026. The campaign needs to connect summer, seasonal products and key South African calendar moments including New Year, Back to School, Valentine’s Day, Human Rights Day, the start of the Term 1 school holidays and Easter, under one clear creative idea.

The concept should work across the full customer journey, from email marketing, social media and paid advertising through to in-store displays, signage, printed specials and product communication.

02 / Campaign audit

What is the campaign
trying to achieve?

The campaign needs to give customers a reason to shop Food Lover’s Market throughout the summer period, communicating offers and seasonal moments from January to March.

Key campaign moments

01

January

New Year’s Day
Back to School
Return to work
Braais and outdoor eating
Summer produce

02

February

Valentine’s Day
Summer entertaining
Fresh food and seasonal produce
Weekend and occasion-based shopping

03

March

Human Rights Day
End of summer
Term 1 school holidays
Easter preparation
Family gatherings

Campaign calendar

Live windows and recommended preparation lead time

JanuaryFebruaryMarch

Always-on summer1 Jan – 31 Mar · 90 daysPrep before: 45 days

90 days

New Year1–11 Jan · 11 daysPrep before: 24 days

Back to School5–18 Jan · 14 daysPrep before: 35 days

Valentine’s Day1–14 Feb · 14 daysPrep before: 20 days

Human Rights Day14–22 Mar · 9 daysPrep before: 19 days

School holidays + Easter23–31 Mar · 9 daysPrep before: 21 days

What should customers experience?

The campaign needs to follow the customer across the full journey.

01

Discover

Introduce the campaign and products through social media, paid advertising, influencers, email marketing, website content and digital specials.

02

Consider

Give customers a reason to visit the store through offers, recipes, meal ideas, seasonal products and promotional messaging.

03

Shop

The campaign continues through store entrances, displays, posters, product signage, promotional areas, printed specials and seasonal product zones.

04

Buy

We help customers make purchasing decisions through our pricing, product communication, bundles and promotional messaging.

05

Return

Give customers another reason to come back by communicating through email, social content, recipes, weekly offers and new seasonal moments.

Channel roles

Social media

Interest, inspiration and visibility

Paid media

Targeted products and campaign moments

Influencers

Real routines, meals and occasions

Email marketing

Specials, recipes and reasons to return

Website + catalogues

Deeper information and shop planning

In-store

Support at the point of purchase

What should the campaign feel like?

FreshSeasonalAbundantWarmApproachableFood-ledEnergeticValue-conscious

The food should remain the hero. Graphic design should support the products rather than overpower them.

What should we avoid?

Treating each seasonal moment as a separate campaign.
Letting Back to School overpower the broader summer idea.
Different visual systems across digital, print and in-store.
Generic summer imagery that is not connected to the product offering.
Creative that looks strong but makes the offer difficult to understand.
Changing the campaign identity every month instead of adapting one consistent system.

Campaign structure

One master campaign with smaller stories underneath it.

Master campaignFood Lover’s Market Summer Campaign

↓

Monthly moments

January · February · March

↓

Shopping occasions

Back to School · Braai · Entertaining · Lunchboxes · Valentine’s Day · Weekly Shop · Public Holidays · School Holidays

↓

Product stories

Fresh produce · Meat · Bakery · Drinks · Snacks · Prepared foods · Specials

↓

Executions

Social · Paid media · Email · Influencers · Website · Print · POS · In-store displays

03 / Internal delivery

How will the team
bring it to life?

One shared workflow, with a clearly defined production pack for every campaign moment.

Shared production workflow

Every activation moves through the same five gates.

01

Creative Direction

Campaign concept · Visual system · Key art · Creative rules · Final approvals

→

02

Copy

Campaign messaging · Headlines · Promotional copy · Social copy · Email copy · In-store messaging

→

03

Content Production

Design · Photography · Video · Motion · Product imagery

→

04

Channel Delivery

Social · Paid Media · Email · Website · Digital catalogue · Influencers · In-store

→

05

Retail Production

Close summer while preparing customers for school holidays, Easter and family gatherings.

Core production

Holiday + Easter range · Family-meal content · Social · Paid · Email · Web · Printed specials · Seasonal displays

Lead + handoverCreative + Retail → Trading and all channel owners

Ready to releaseOffer + range lockedCopy approvedMaster creative approvedChannel adaptations suppliedRetail production confirmed

04 / Creative direction

What does the
campaign look like?

The visual direction makes summer feel fresh, abundant and food-led through one recognisable system that can stretch across every seasonal moment.

Master campaign

Food remains
the story.

A confident campaign lock-up unifies each seasonal moment, while food-led photography keeps the story fresh, generous and unmistakably Food Lover’s Market.

Visual language

One system. Many moments.

ColourBrand palette

Brand green anchors brighter tones drawn from seasonal produce.

Summer spectrum

Sunlit yellow, citrus, ripe produce, fresh leaves and warm cream extend the core greens.

Typography Vacances Poster Club seasonal display typography preview

Two Christmas campaign executions using consistent typography across different imagery

Two Easter campaign executions using consistent typography across different imagery

*from previous campaigns

Although the imagery changes, the typography tells us every execution belongs to the same campaign.

Photography

Sunlit, food-first photography pairs abundant, tactile styling with candid human warmth. Overhead tables, close food detail and clean retail views keep every moment fresh, generous and recognisably Food Lover’s Market.

How the system adapts

Six connected campaign moments

Products, messaging and supporting colour change. The campaign identity does not.

Taste of Summer campaign typography lock-up

Always-onSummer

01–11 JanNew Year

Back to School seasonal campaign typography

05–18 JanBack to School

Valentine’s Day seasonal campaign typography

01–14 FebValentine’s Day

Human Rights Day seasonal campaign typography

14–22 MarHuman Rights Day

Easter Together seasonal campaign typography

23–31 MarHolidays + Easter

Campaign in action

One identity at every touchpoint

Recognisable without every execution looking identical.

Always-on Summer

The master campaign in market

One central idea expressed through lifestyle storytelling and the retail environment.

Taste of Summer picnic campaign advert — Picnic campaign advert

Taste of Summer in-store feature display — In-store feature display

Taste of Summer supermarket produce department campaign — Produce department campaign

New Year · 1–11 January

Fresh starts, shared around the table

The seasonal message moves through three connected executions.

New Year Taste of Summer campaign poster with a group sharing food — New Year campaign poster 01

New Year Taste of Summer campaign featuring friends gathered around food — New Year campaign hero

New Year Taste of Summer campaign poster with a celebratory table — New Year campaign poster 02

Content production

Recipe ideas for Instagram Stories

Production direction: develop these concepts into short-form recipe videos for Instagram Stories.

New Year Instagram Story introducing fresh flavours for a bright new year — Series opener

New Year mini potjie stew Instagram Story recipe idea — Mini potjie stew

New Year sharing board Instagram Story recipe idea — Build a sharing board

Back to School · 5–18 January

Aisle takeover

The campaign moves into the store through high-impact, useful shopper touchpoints.

Parent shopping in the Back to School aisle with campaign shelf and floor graphics

Food Lover’s Market Back to School aisle campaign across shelf and floor graphics

Food Lover’s Market Back to School Instagram campaign executions

Valentine’s Day · 1–14 February

His & Hers Valentine’s Day

Strong product storytelling, rich editorial light, and a convincing Food Lover’s Market setting.

Valentine’s Day conveyor-belt campaign featuring a selection for him — For him

Valentine’s Day conveyor-belt campaign featuring a selection for her — For her

Food Lover’s Market Valentine’s Day portrait campaign featuring favourites for her — Shop her Valentine’s favourites

Food Lover’s Market Valentine’s Day portrait campaign featuring favourites for him — Shop his Valentine’s favourites

Creative foundation

Together, these executions give us a strong creative foundation and a clear glimpse into the campaign’s potential, showing how one recognisable idea extends across seasonal moments, channels and the retail environment.

Campaign archive

Additional concept explorations

Art-directed Taste of Summer picnic campaign execution

Archived Back to School aisle takeover concept

Archived Back to School hopscotch aisle concept

Archived premium in-store grocery campaign concept

Archived premium in-store grocery campaign concept with floor and shelf graphics

Visual references

Campaign moodboard

Shared dining and abundant food styling reference

Editorial supermarket signage and produce display reference

Bold product typography and colour reference

Candid social dining photography reference

Overhead gathering and typography reference

Fresh grocery social media campaign reference

Supermarket aisle floor graphic reference

05 / On-set direction

The on-set
production plan.

Every department is working toward the same result: strong product storytelling, rich editorial light and a convincing Food Lover’s Market world, with enough flexibility for every final format.

Shared non-negotiables

One visual standard across the shoot

01Food leads

Products stay recognisable, abundant and central to the story.

02Warm, not staged

Moments feel lived-in, joyful and editorial rather than overly polished.

03FLM feels real

Stores, signage, fixtures and product presentation must feel credible.

04Design space is planned

Every setup protects useful space for headlines, prices, logos and crops.

Department briefs

What each team owns

Set dressers

Build the scenes shown in concept

Own every table, picnic, checkout and in-store prop. Recreate the generous overhead tables, relaxed picnic setups and conveyor-belt stories from Page 04. Place items to lead the eye toward hero food, leave copy space clear and maintain exact continuity for stills and video.

Lighting team

Match the campaign light

Create the warm, sunlit editorial look used across the table and picnic imagery, with directional shadows that reveal food texture. For store and conveyor scenes, shape existing light so it feels premium and believable. Control reflections on packs, glass, chillers and polished counters.

Chefs + food stylists

Prepare every food story

Build the sharing tables, picnic food, lunchboxes, grazing boards and Valentine’s product selections shown in concept. Keep food fresh, abundant and attainable, with labels facing camera. Prepare hero versions, duplicates and timed replacements for melting, wilting or handled items.

Models + wardrobe

Perform the campaign moments

Bring the New Year gathering, summer picnic, parent-and-child shop and His and Hers Valentine’s stories to life through natural interaction. Hit blocking marks without covering products or copy space. Wardrobe should use clean silhouettes and campaign colours with no competing branding.

Locations

Find each campaign world

Secure a warm home for the New Year table, an inviting outdoor picnic space and authentic Food Lover’s Market stores for aisles, produce, checkout and display scenes. Confirm sightlines, signage, customer control, sound, power, loading access and enough depth for wide compositions.

Photographers + design

Build every layout in camera

Photographers must tether with the designer and review live layout overlays. Capture overhead tables and conveyors, wide store aisles, portraits with product and close food details. For every hero, shoot landscape, 4:5, square and 9:16 options with copy space left, right and above, plus clean plates.

Videographers

Turn the concepts into sequences

Translate the picnic, gathering, recipe, shopping and Valentine’s setups into short actions: arrivals, hands placing food, product reveals, cooking steps and shared reactions. Capture 16:9 and 9:16 masters, clean openings and endings, locked-off plates, room tone and shots long enough for on-screen copy.

Social + BTS team

Capture the story behind the work

Plan vertical behind-the-scenes coverage for each Page 04 setup, from empty set to final frame. Record set dressing, lighting, food styling, talent direction and before-and-after reveals. Deliver quick hooks, short sequences and approved selects without showing unreleased offers or unfinished artwork.

Printers + retail production

Translate concept into store

Produce the Back to School floor graphics, shelf strips and overhead signs, plus Valentine’s and summer posters and displays. Confirm final dimensions, bleed, safe areas, substrates, slip ratings and installation method early. Proof campaign colours under store lighting and test copy at viewing distance.

Mandatory handover

Approved shot list · Designer-approved layout checks · RAW masters · Retouched finals · Clean plates · Crop variations · Product and talent releases · Colour references · Continuity log · Usage notes · Print-ready and social-ready exports