Ocean Spray
Redefining a Brand
disciplines: brand strategy, content strategy, art direction, photography, social media, paid media, pinterest
Ocean Spray® is a 100-year old iconic brand that doesn’t get the credit they deserve for being an innovative, farmer-owned co-op. During my time with Stone, we helped them carve out a stronger brand personality that matched the power of the cranberry — building a brand world and photo strategy to refresh everything from packaging to social campaigns.
Cran Nation
During our exploration, we made a big discovery — fans are wild about Ocean Spray. From a guy named Doggface skating his way to Tik Tok stardom to die-hard canned sauce fans standing on tradition, Ocean Spray cranberries attract fierce opinions and strong characters. We tapped into something powerful — and set out to build a connection between the wildness of the bog and the passion of cran fans.
We elevated our fan’s voices, giving them credit for being true cranberry lovers, and centered our strategy around creating content that felt authentic, fun, and true to our community. We threw fun parties instead of staged photoshoots, built out extensive photo libraries, and engaged with our fans at every opportunity.
Impact
Instagram:
Averaged above 10% ER, significantly surpassing industry benchmarks (1.45%), maintaining high audience engagement.
TikTok:
High engagement with peaks around 12.59% ER, effectively leveraging current trends.
Facebook:
Averaged around 5% ER, consistently exceeding industry benchmarks (0.74%), with top posts reaching over 10% ER.
Pinterest:
Showed solid performance, especially with a 18.7% ER in top holiday paid campaigns using recipe strategy.
Productions
Below you’ll see the wide breadth of brand building we did for Ocean Spray and building their visual identity, as well as paying tribute to the incredible photographers, stylists, and talent we worked with along the way to make our vision come to life.
It’s Cranberry Season
For this shoot, we took our stand to declare that the holidays really are just cranberry season. From craisins, jelly to juice, we bring the party wherever we go.
agency: stone strategy & design / art director: daniel alfonzo / producer: lucy fisher / photographer: luke gottlieb / digitech: brien hollowell
Bog to the Bone
After having redefined Ocean Spray’s brand and discovering our maverick personality, we find ourselves lacking the real, raw bog photography to tell that story. We traveled all the way to Grayland, Washington to fix that.
agency: stone strategy & design / art director: daniel alfonzo / producer: lucy fisher /photographer: kersten vasey
Pool Party
For this shoot, we captured our fan’s love for Ocean Spray’s wide variety of Cran+(insert fruit here) blends. Because Ocean Spray really is the Nick Cannon of juices.
agency: stone strategy & design / art director: daniel alfonzo / producer: lucy fisher / photographer: brien hollowell
Power Your Party
For this shoot, we captured the fun, transformative power that cranberries have to bring the party.
agency: stone strategy & design / art director: daniel alfonzo / producer: lucy fisher / photographer: ali vagnini / prop & wardrobe: emily park / food stylist: sara kaluzshner
Pinterest Campaigns & Recipes
Beyond working on redefining Ocean Spray’s lifestyle photography and overall tone, we also looked at elevating their product and food photography to match our style as well, focusing in on raw, real, yet appetizing presentations of cranberries and how they bring the party and flavor to any dish. We utilized this photography for a variety of paid pinterest campaigns, as well as e-comm digital storefronts. Below you’ll find a variety of what we captured over the years.
agency: stone strategy & design / art director: daniel alfonzo + hillary therriault / producer: lucy fisher / photographer: luke gottlieb, paul miller, ali vagnini
TikToks & Short Form Video
A small snapshot of a few of my favorite Tik Toks that I had to produce, or even star in for Ocean Spray.