Digital Marketing | Experiential Design

Crate and Barrel

Overview

The corporate partnerships between Crate and Barrel and the Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks was designed to bring brand awareness and drive sales in the hometown market. Like Crate’s branding, the digital marketing for these partnerships were clean, modern and direct.

Problem

To connect Crate and Barrel’s merchandise to professional sports teams in a way that felt purposeful and increased sales at Chicago area locations.

Role

Lead designer responsible for
in-stadium and online digital marketing and communicating with teams for production and delivery

Process

Research

Brainstorming

Design

Stakeholder Presentation

Iteration

Production

Solution

The connections I was able to establish between the sports fan and the average Crate customer included messaging about upgrading the home furnishing used to watch sports at home or the tableware used when hosting friends for sporting events.

Tools

Illustrator

Photoshop

Duration

3-4 months

Chicago Cubs Corporate Partnership

The corporate partnership with the Chicago Cubs built awareness of Crate and Barrel as a Chicago area based company and also increased traffic to the Chicago area stores. The goal was to reach a new audience in Chicago sports fans and communicate that Crate had a lot to offer as a brand.

While Crate’s partnership with the Cubs was not as obvious a fit compared to other partners, it was a way to broaden the appeal of the brand.

Cubs Fan Cave Sweepstakes Microsite

As part of the Cubs corporate partnership, Crate sponsored sweepstakes to increase fan participation and drive more traffic to the site. I designed this landing page for sweepstakes entries accessible from crateandbarrel.com

Chicago Blackhawks Corporate Partnership

The Chicago Blackhawks partnership came before the Cubs and again was a way to attract a new audience in the Chicago market. The focus of this partnership was on digital web marketing in addition to a few graphics for the arena. With the help of an editorial partner, I designed these banner ads highlighting various glassware and beverage tubs Crate sold at the time.

Connecting Crate’s product line to professional ice hockey was not an obvious pairing but the messaging was clever and engaging enough to work with the product photography.