Nourish + Bloom Market

When we designed the awareness campaign, Boundless, we landed on the insight that UST is a brand that’s felt. As such, the campaign aims to show – not just tell – the real impact of UST’s work on people and communities through inspirational stories of technology-driven business transformation.

So we were delighted to stumble upon Nourish + Bloom Market, a very personal tale of a community that has grasped the future of grocery shopping with both hands.

Through its partnership with UST, the store is bringing people and technology together to deliver a truly frictionless, omnichannel experience. And the ripple effect is spreading to the community and beyond.

A very human challenge

39.5 million people in the US have no easy access to healthy, affordable food. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why founders Jilea and Jamie Hemmings are passionate about their mission to embrace technology to solve this human challenge.

Nourish + Bloom Market is the first autonomous grocery store with robotic delivery in the United States. Based in Trilith, GA, it aims to provide 24/7/365 access to healthy food, while ensuring the experience is easy and enjoyable for the whole community.

Nourish + Bloom Market runs on frictionless technology that allows customers to grab their items and pay without waiting in line. And if they can’t make it to the store, the market’s two robots, Nourish and Bloom, will deliver directly to their door or desk.

Through a series of conversations with the store’s founders and their UST partners, we uncovered a treasure trove of anecdotes that we knew would bring this Boundless Story to life. We decided film was the only medium that could do it justice, and set about structuring the narrative around those interweaving perspectives.

The ripple effect

At its heart, this story brings together technology-driven convenience and a uniquely human sense of community and progress. We needed to demonstrate that the two concepts can happily co-exist – and explore how the ripple effect spreads beyond the store.

Authenticity was a top priority and we knew no one could tell the story better than Jilea and Jamie, so we put their voices front and centre of the narrative. We identified a supporting cast of real characters from the Trilith community, from customer Gail to supplier Alec to the Hemmings’ own children, who provided inspiration for the business. Even the delivery robots would have a role. We invited a UST expert to reflect on the technology and the partnership.

We collaborated with Chorus Films, a local video partner who understood what we were trying to achieve. A traditional “talking heads” case study didn’t feel right for the subject matter, so we took a cinematic approach to give it a natural, warm and engaging feel.

It was clear to us from the moment we set foot in Trilith that Nourish + Bloom had become a hub for the community. The store is warm and welcoming; the technology works seamlessly to improve the human experience, not compromise it. People smile and chat to one another, and to employees. We captured it all on film.

It was a privilege to be on set, hearing first-hand how the technology is bringing people together from across the community. A career first for us was art directing Bloom, one of the store’s delivery robots and a Hollywood star in the making.

It truly felt like we were capturing a glimpse of the future. We can’t wait to see what UST and Nourish + Bloom Market will do together next.

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