People love shopping local. They enjoy spending their money in places that they know will benefit the community and build the local economy. Many small businesses use various forms of local advertising to entice people to spend their money locally. Small businesses can be very successful using local advertising, so bigger, corporate companies want to be able to tap into that successful demographic as well. The question that must be answered is: how do corporate companies make themselves seem small and part of the community? By using local advertising, of course.
Let’s start off by defining local advertising. It is defined as “advertising that is done on a local basis to a local merchant or business, opposed to regional or national advertising”.
Using this method of advertising, companies may change their advertising tactics to make them seem more local and homegrown. For example, Lowe’s Food is currently attempting a to rebrand themselves to make them seem more local and community oriented. They have over 100 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The company itself isn’t huge, but it’s not a small town grocery store either. They are currently in the process of rebranding themselves to focus more on being connected to the community and sourcing their products from small, local farms. Even though they are a fairly decent sized company, they are trying to appeal to the “local feel” people get when they shop at other local stores.
One of their newest local advertising tactics are the “Community Table” events that they host. These events include cooking classes from local chefs, as well as wine and cheese tastings. These events vary based on location and are modified to appeal to the demographic in each specific location. They draw in consumers by giving them a chance to connect with other members of their community and to learn something new in the process. This is just one local advertising tactic that Lowe’s Foods is implementing in order to make themselves seem more local.
Can a corporate companies be successful in using local advertising to attract its target market?
-Anna Joy Zima, Hannah Rodgers, Katilyn Russell
IMC Hawks Blog 
I have never thought about how Lowes Food is re-branding to become more like a local business. I can see how some would follow with that feeling of a local business, but I cannot. I have always known Lowes food to be a good size store with many branches on the southern east coast. They do carry local items, but overall it is a normal franchised grocery store. I think some corporate companies can use advertising to attract the local market. Lowes food is doing small things and it is working for some. Some corporate companies are just too large to do this, such as Target and Walmart. Because Lowes food is a regional store and it does carry local products as well as brand names, they can continue to pull of the local aspect in the stores.
Yesterday I visited Lowes Food to grab a few things and I was in complete awe of the changes the store has made. As you stated there are wine and cheese tastings, cooking lessons and many more opportunities throughout the month. I believe attending these events is an awesome way to interact in the community. Although Lowes Food is not as popular as Harris Teeter, I sometimes prefer to buy my groceries here because of how kind the employees are, how clean the store is and how much they have improved recently.
Coming from the North, I had never heard of Lowes foods and was not particularly impressed when I tried shopping there last year. I gave it a second chance a few weeks ago, and their renovations are looking great! I was impressed with the rearrangements and the change of quality just within a year. The ideas of doing local cooking classes, and wine and cheese tastings are great ways to appeal to local consumers. I think corporate companies local advertising and marketing are key business practices to their successes. The reason why they are corporate is because they are successful in drawing in local consumers.