Audience-first approach helped Walrus grow revenue and land Lowes, Amazon and the Walton Family Foundation

Toyotathon meets Crazy Eddie. That’s how Walrus describes its work for grocery chain-cum-entertainment destination Lowes Foods, for which it cooked up Chicken Fest. From in-store posters declaring “a palooza of poultry” and “a festival of fowl,” to paper cut-out chicken wings for kids and a re-recording of the chicken dance song, Walrus left no touchpoint untouched. It even redesigned the store’s credit-card swipers to make a clucking sound. It’s all part of the shop’s philosophy to make ads people actually like. That credo helped Walrus raise revenue 30 percent last year and bring in Lowes, Paypal, Amazon and the Walton Family Foundation. Along the way, it launched Amazon Go’s cashier-less stores, did the first national ads for the Farmer’s Dog, and helped Wells Ice Cream decide which of three new lines to introduce by testing varied creative within a five-mile radius of stores. See all of the 2020 Ad Age Small Agency Awards winners. Its YouTube and Hulu ads for stool-softener Colace likened waiting for a video to start to waiting for a bowel movement, helping hike the brand’s sales 5.9 percent. Its out-of-home ads for Smith & Wollensky played perfectly to the steakhouse’s old-school vibe with lines like “Snap us on the Tweeter.” And Walrus worked with Los Angeles magazine to create the breathtaking and gravity-defying cover for its Kobe Bryant tribute. —Judann Pollack

Audience-first approach helped Walrus grow revenue and land Lowes, Amazon and the Walton Family Foundation

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