5 or 10 years ago, you would have never thought twice when you said what the top supermarket was – it was traditionally Woolies. But it seems that since Aldi reign and Coles’ successful “down down” campaign, Woolworths has been on the back foot. They’ve tried just about everything to get customers back in their aisles, from the unsuccessful “cheap cheap” ads to overhauling to popular Everyday Rewards and renaming it Woolworths Rewards. Now they’ve gone back to basics with their approach, and let word of mouth draw the crowds.
In a huge new campaign, Woolworths have called on everyday Aussies to tell others why they pick Woolies, giving examples of service, quality and choice.
Woolworths chief marketing officer Andrew Hicks told Mumbrella the supermarket’s new campaign aims to reconnect with consumers and show how Woolworths has improved.
You may have already seen the ads on your TV as they roll out across the country to highlight what it is that makes people choose the iconic Aussie supermarket.
Mumbrella reports Woolies have spent a bucketload on the new campaign, with ads set to flood TV, radio, print, outdoor and social with an aim of reaching 80% of Australian grocery buyers in the first week.
“We recognised that there were some great reasons why customers choose Woolworths that hadn’t been shared broadly and equally new reasons why they had come on board that we hadn’t spoken about at all,” Hicks said.
“And so it was just a great opportunity to take a fresh approach, new brand platform, give new meaning to the Fresh Food People and equally to strengthen some of the emotional connections that we have with customers”.
Hicks admitted Woolworths had gone astray with promoting their own agenda in previous ads, and wanted now to get back to the customers.
“I think the most important point is it was from the customer’s perspective rather than our own, so using their language,” he says about the choice to call Woolworths “Woolies” in their ad.
“Even the shift from ‘Woolworths’ to ‘Woolies’ in reflecting how customers use it as a term of endearment. ‘Pick’ for us is also a very powerful word.
“It has connotations back to Fresh and to Fresh Food People, but equally it recognises that customers have an active choice they can make everyday in terms of where they shop.
“We have done some extensive research with customers to make sure that we’re living up to what we are saying we are doing in terms of putting the customer first,” he said.
“I think there is something that is as sincere and authentic about the approach, and from what we have seen in research this will resonate particularly well with customers.
“It’s only been a day since we launched but if we look at some of the initial sentiments on social media they have equally been very positive so I think it does begin to say that we have made a good connection or are in the process of making a good and positive connection with customers.”
“Price, quality, convenience, even something like Food Rescue and a brand that does good in the community.
“There are a vast array of reasons why a customer picks a supermarket and indeed picks Woolworths. So for us it was really just saying we need to represent that truth more broadly.
“Price is one of the things that is critically important to Australian consumers and we will remain focused on communicating our price credentials as part of one of the core reasons that customers pick Woolies.
“And we have seen price perception gaps narrowing and investment in price is beginning to pay off practically in consumer’s wallets but equally in perception”, he said.