Bloom Supermarkets & The Pohly Company launch
“Fun and Funky” lifestyle magazine for Bloom shoppers
BOSTON and SALISBURY, N.C., August 3, 2006 – Bloom supermarkets and their custom publisher, The Pohly Company, re-launched InBloom, a lifestyle magazine for its customers, the companies announced today. The 20-page, full-color monthly magazine reflects an updated editorial approach and a revitalized design for the Charlotte, N.C., region; the magazine launched for the first time in the Greenville, S.C. region. The company expects distribution to grow to an estimated 400,000 households by the end of the year.
Topics covered in InBloom include home-decorating, entertaining, health and wellness, travel, and customized regional content. Unlike most supermarket magazines, which focus on food and recipes, InBloom will focus primarily on lifestyle content, including simple recipes scattered throughout.
“InBloom goes beyond food because we want it to simplify our shoppers’ lives, just as our stores do,” said Robin Foster Johnson, director of marketing and brand development at Bloom. “Our shoppers have limited time for the most important people in their lives and for themselves. InBloom offers straightforward, thoughtful, and novel ideas to make their lives easier and simpler – all delivered in a fun and funky style,” she said.
The magazine is expected to help Bloom strengthen its brand and reputation as a cutting-edge retailer. Diana Pohly, president of The Pohly Company, said, “Bloom is an innovator in its industry, and The Pohly Company’s mantra is finding unconventional ways to connect with customers, so this partnership was a perfect fit. The result, InBloom, provides an upbeat, entertaining, and most of all, realistic look at shoppers’ lives today.”
The magazine’s design and editorial aim first and foremost to be fun. The style includes bright colors, modern fonts, and a flexible grid system that allows designers free rein to develop the best layout for the page and content. The result is a quirky and visually stimulating style.
The content of InBloom is organized into four mini-magazines:
1. “Your Space” provides information and tips for home-decorating, entertaining, and space organization.
2. “Your World” offers content customized for the Charlotte, N.C., and Greenville, S.C., regions. Content focuses on local events, people and places. For example, the July issue for Charlotte includes an interview with local restaurant chef Timothy Groody of Sonoma Modern American Cuisine, with tips on cooking with seasonal produce.
3. “Your Self” features articles on health and wellness, work/life balance, and home-based leisure pursuits.
4. “Your Passions” focuses on those important to Bloom shoppers: spouses, children, friends, neighbors, and even pets. Editorial topics will include meal planning, travel, and time-saving advice.
The Team & Process
Bloom selected The Pohly Company to publish InBloom in early 2006. The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., and Boone/Oakley Advertising in Charlotte, N.C. conducted the search for Bloom. “The Pohly Company provided insight into the retail experience, and how Bloom markets play an important role in our shoppers’ week,” said Johnson. “Their understanding of not only custom publishing but also the shopper, shopping, Bloom, food and fun, is what impressed us most.”
The first publication of InBloom made its debut in conjunction with Bloom’s new market appearance in Greenville, S.C., in June 2006. The Pohly Company is responsible for strategy development, audience definition, market research, editorial content, graphic design, production, media sales, and circulation management.
About Bloom
Bloom operates five stores in and around Charlotte, N.C. The company is headquartered in Salisbury, N.C. Most recently, Bloom opened three stores in the Greenville or Upstate area in South Carolina. Four more are planned for later this year. In addition, the company announced a move into the Washington, D.C., area and plans to open a number of Bloom supermarkets there. A Washington, D.C., version of InBloom will be introduced later this year. Bloom is a banner of Food Lion, LLC, a subsidiary of Belgium-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG).
About The Pohly Company
The Pohly Company is a diversified marketing and publishing company specializing in customer communications — creating and advancing marketing and publishing programs that drive emotional relationships with a company’s customers and best prospects. The company works with world-class brands and major associations that include Continental Airlines, Coca-Cola FoodService, UAW-DaimlerChrysler, Boston Whaler, Western Union, and the Boston Society of Architects. The Pohly Company is also the publisher of Fuel, a bimonthly newsletter for marketing and communications professionals that focuses on unconventional ways to reach and influence key customer groups.
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