Battle of the Brands: Sainsbury's unveils new ad campaign for basics range

It’s the start of a new year, and with increasingly tightening belts our post-Christmas bank accounts are looking very daunting. Many of us converted long ago to private label products in our weekly shop, with food private label penetration at over 30% in the UK, which is the highest across the globe. The economic benefits of private label are thought to overshadow any decline in quality for a great deal of consumers, but retailers have come incredibly far with maintaining decent standards in their own-brand products. There is one aspect which retailers have mainly ignored, up until now, which is the issue of ethical sourcing in private label products. As consumer trends moving towards an increasing awareness of the sustainability and ethics behind their buying choices, Sainsbury’s have released a new Ad campaign to target those conscious consumers.

Their #ValueofValues campaign is designed to illustrate the conscientiousness that Sainsbury’s put behind sourcing the most ethically sound food for their customers. Mike Coupe, commercial director, writes in a blog on the Sainsbury’s website that “people who have less don’t care less” which is backed up by research saying  that 86% of people believe that the ethics behind food matters. Their campaign, which has been released across TV, Print and Digital, highlights the fact that Sainsbury’s basics eggs are the same price as Tesco’s Everyday Value eggs, but are sourced from non-caged hens.

This is the next stage in the supermarket price war between Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and after fruitless complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, Sainsbury’s are now planning to take Tesco to Judicial Review. Sainsbury’s Marketing Director Sarah Warby explains the company’s strong ethical credentials in their basics range as “great value with none of the compromise.” More adverts are set to be released in the coming month for their Sainsbury’s ham, MSC accredited fish fingers and Fairtrade tea.

This marketing move is undeniably genius from Sainsbury’s, coinciding with the one year anniversary of the horse-meat scandal, which doused their competitor Tesco in bad press. The most prominent factor is that they are listening to their customers and adjusting their strategies to match consumer trends, which is giving them the competitive edge in the market. A major consideration influencing Sainsbury’s decision to launch this ad campaign was consumer data. By arming yourself with consumer intelligence you can identify which trends to exploit, where there are potential areas for growth and how to keep your business in line with the latest industry information. The Industry Report Store has a premium report from Canadean, global research specialist in the food and beverage industry, about private labels and the impact on the market. It details which consumers are buying private label, how consumer loyalty is being affected by private label strategies and the competitive situation that the industry is facing.

There is currently a 50% discount on this report until February 28th 2014, so take advantage now and invest in premium market intelligence.

If you’re interested in the way that private labeling is affecting supermarkets and the industry, or if you would like to know more about the offer then contact us for sample pages, or see here for more information: Evolving Private Label Strategies, Consumer Choices and the future impact on Food Brands & Private Labels. 

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Elizabeth Ryan

Marketing

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Sources: Sainsbury's Website , The Food and Drink Innovation Network,  Sainsbury's Youtube Channel