“I’m proud to be a person who’s always creating and finding fun ways to express myself and share my uniqueness with the world…It’s fun and cathartic, and everyone should try it,” said Jon Oppold.
The Sioux Falls entrepreneur has made a name for himself in the food and drink industry with Sunny’s Pizzeria, The Orion Pub, and Polar Bites (recently becoming the new owner last month). Not only is he passionate about creating gathering places for the community, but he’s equally as passionate about building strong, unique brands behind them.
Oppold started his professional life in corporate marketing and communications and says he began feeling jaded and restless in that setting, itching for more. With a background as a designer, writer, and “creative jack-of-all-trades,” he wanted to step away and put his talents toward his own endeavors.
“After over a decade of creating brands, ads, blogs, and campaigns, I wanted the opportunity to build a brand and create marketing that’s silly and fun and uniquely showcases my personality unencumbered by the analysis paralysis and prototypical corporate groupthink,” recalled Oppold.
One July afternoon in 2019, he noticed a laundromat building for lease close by to Augustana University that he had his eye on, and swooped in and opened Sunny’s Pizzeria.
Oppold’s vision for the Sunny’s brand has always been about “getting weird” in a quirky, approachable, familyfriendly way and conveying it’s a neighborhood space.
“I’m not Italian, and the food’s not supposed to be authentic or snooty—we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and I wanted it to be fun to interact with our brand,” he said. “I chose the dog, Sunny, as the mascot because I personally didn’t want to be the focus. A French Bulldog is about as friendly and approachable of a mascot as I could think of…so we’ve built a community around dogs in fun, quirky ways.”
“ART IS NOT VALUED THE WAY IT SHOULD BE IN OUR SOCIETY, AND HUMAN EXPRESSION IS SO IMPORTANT TO OUR LIVES AND THE WAY WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD AND INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.”
The owner has used his design skills to make everything from custom pizza boxes to an array of stickers to a wall of customer dog photos with silly captions and much more.
Two marketing moments Oppold has created that can be enjoyed by the community outdoors includes a mural of famous South Dakotans that has a new persona added each year, and witty sayings changing now and again on the Sunny’s marquee sign (i.e. “Our pizza slaps harder than Will Smith”).
Oppold’s second project with co-owner Thomas Hentges, The Orion Pub, opened in 2023 and was given its own creative spin. Utilizing antiques and their vision, the pair curated their own retro neighborhood bar a la the 1970s in downtown Sioux Falls.
“I intentionally created a brand that was made to feel unassuming and inclusive. At the time, downtown felt devoid of a working class bar that catered to a more mature audience,” said Oppold. “We were looking to be sort of a throwback bar that carries and promotes classic beer brands on tap (Hamm’s, Coors Banquet, PBR, Old Style, Grain Belt), so I gravitated to the idea of making our marketing look like dusty old beer ads you’d find in a magazine from the ‘70s and ‘80s.”
He reached out to his favorite local film photographer Cassia McLoone to help recreate the imagery.
“It’s been fun sort of going back in time to create a brand that is intended to be gritty, nostalgic, and a little rough around the edges,” he said.
Learn more about the marketing aficionado.
WHAT ARE ALL THE HATS YOU WEAR WITHIN YOUR BUSINESSES?
Outside of the boring minutia of licensing and bookkeeping and taxes and paperwork, I’m the in-house handyman at both businesses, but my passion is in everything marketing and branding. I’ve personally created every logo, every ad, every social post (outside of Instagram stories for the pub, which is Thomas’s specialty), every piece of merch, every in-house promotional sign, every coupon, everything that required professional design has been my work over the past seven years. I can’t think of another owner in my industry, at least locally, that can say that.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATION AND ART AS IT PERTAINS TO BUSINESS, PROMOTION, ENGAGEMENT, AND CONNECTION?
I think art and creation and the whole concept of human expression has never been more important than it is right now at this moment. Big tech is creating programs that cut out human expression, and I think where we’re heading with AI and the automation of art is so lame and uninteresting and, frankly, bad for humanity. When small businesses create brands that showcase their personality and stand out, it sets the expectation for what customers will encounter when they visit the establishment. I think it’s incredibly important to differentiate businesses and help local brands connect with local people. I’m a huge proponent of art and, although we host an art market in conjunction with Prints & Repeat each summer, I’d love to do more events with the art community.
DESCRIBE THE WAYS IN WHICH FOOD AND DRINK PREPARATION, COOKING, AND SERVING REQUIRE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.
One thing that’s been fun for me as a creative person who owns businesses in the food and beverage industry is the notion that every place the business interacts with a customer is a brand touchpoint, and every touchpoint— including the menus we create and the food we serve—is an opportunity to be intentional and create something unique…whether that means unique ingredients, a uniquely silly name, the way we display it on a menu, or how we photograph it for use in our marketing. Every touchpoint is a choice…a deliberate choice that requires attention to detail, and there’s artistry in that.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
Creating is my favorite thing, bar none…and I love that I’ve created a space where I can be creative and showcase my personality in ways that are unencumbered by the thoughts and opinions of other people. Being able to try stuff, be weird, have fun, and be creative in an attempt to get attention for the business and seeing it actually work the way I intended has been so validating after over a decade of having my work sanitized by clients and superiors in the corporate world. I’ve been able to make things I’m truly proud of, and that’s been very rewarding.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT SUNNYSPIZZERIA.COM, ORIONPUB.COM, OR MYPOLARBITES.COM+
