What is currently a burger and frozen custard giant began in 1984 as a single family-owned restaurant in Sauk City, Wisconsin. Now boasting over 850 restaurants in 25 states and millions of loyal guests who have come to associate the brand’s name with quality food and genuine hospitality, Culver’s is emphasizing its proud small-town Wisconsin heritage in its newly evolved “Welcome to Delicious” integrated marketing campaign.
The campaign, which is headlined by a 17-city event tour featuring the first-ever Culver’s food truck along with several new TV spots, arrives over 11 years after the brand launched its first Welcome to Delicious campaign. While much has changed in the decade since, the messaging in each tactic amplifies an idea that has remained constant: that Culver’s identity lies in its quality food and a passion for taking care of people.
“Being from Sauk City, Wisconsin, not only represents our past – it makes us who we are today, and who we will always be for our guests and team members,” says Culver’s co-founder Craig Culver. “After more than forty years, we’re proud that guests in 25 states have grown to value our commitment to hospitality, making food the right way and going the extra mile to treat people with kindness.”
The first of four new TV spots for the campaign is currently live. Dubbed “From Wisconsin With Love,” this anthem spot brings Dairyland delicacies and warm Wisconsin welcomes to life through scenes of farm fields, guests coming together over made-to-order menu items and team members demonstrating Culver’s trademark hospitality. Craig Culver, who narrates the commercial, is briefly seen scooping Fresh Frozen Custard in archival footage from 1984 – a nod to the personal touch and family principles he has instilled throughout every step of the brand’s journey from Sauk City secret to national favorite.
To give guests around the country a more vivid look into its heritage, Culver’s is taking its first-ever food truck, a 22-foot truck wrapped in an illustrated scene of farm fields and dairy cows, to 17 cities on the “From Wisconsin With Love” tour. Beyond the free Wisconsin Cheese Curds and Fresh Frozen Custard served from the truck, the immersive experience is the brand’s way of “exporting Wisconsin” through family fun and larger-than-life guest experiences, as well as giving back to its communities along the way.
Culver’s currently has 16 cities confirmed on the tour route, while giving guests the chance to bring a slice of America’s Dairyland to their city by making it the 17th destination. In the From Wisconsin With Love Sweepstakes, guests can nominate a city of their choice to become the final tour stop from May 9 through June 5.
The Wisconsin-centric messaging and visual cues of the campaign are further brought to life in a new branded content piece, 12 Reasons Culver’s Could Only Have Come From Wisconsin. Viewers can click icons on an interactive, 3-D map of Wisconsin and explore how Culver’s roots are evident in every aspect of the brand today, from the state’s championing of frozen custard and supper club traditions to a deep appreciation for farmers and agriculture.
Elements of the integrated campaign will take hold throughout 2022 across touchpoints including television, social media, digital, radio and out-of-home advertising, as well as in-restaurant point-of-purchase elements like signage and menu boards.
