• by Steve Ellwanger , February 27, 2023

Indoor-farming brand Square Roots has launched its first-ever advertising campaign to inform people that winter can be “the freshest time of year.”

It’s a regional initiative to support the introduction of Square Roots in Wisconsin and Ohio—where the company built and opened two new farms last year in Kenosha and Springfield.

Square Roots chooses farm locations by proximity to distribution partners Gordon Food Service and United National Foods Inc. so that its greens are delivered to stores and foodservice providers year-round within hours of harvest.

Created in-house, visuals in the campaign titled “Thrive Inside” connect nasty winter weather conditions with the warm environment of its hydroponic farms.

This 30-second spot opens with a typical snowstorm in Chicago.

“Outside, it can be rain, snow, snow-pocalypse,” says the voiceover. “Inside our farms we’re thriving, vibing, always growing. Keeping things so fresh these greens last for weeks, not days.”

Launched 2016, in the coming months Square Roots will add a farm in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, according to senior director of marketing and communications Rachel Winnall.

“We’re in a lot of places where people have never heard of us before and we really want to build brand awareness and engage with a whole new set of people,” Winnall tells Marketing Daily.

“The creative took a lot of inspiration from the vibes of the actual farms themselves. We juxtaposed that with what’s going on outside—like in the Midwest where there’s snow storms.”

Square Roots is using targeted media buys on Hulu to reach consumers in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In addition to social media, the campaign includes out-of-home placements “mainly in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio markets near retail stores.

“We thought the imagery vibrant assets would shine in out-of-home—especially given that what’s going on outside. These were being bought for end of February through March.”