Insight - Retailers need value and values when promoting in-store

promotionsandincentives.co.uk 24-Jun-09, 15:24

LONDON - Billington Cartmell group account director Andy Jarvis believes marketers need to beware of relying on the lowest common-denominator when considering what appeals to consumers.

Contrary to media headlines, consumers are not rushing en masse to discounters in a crazed, bargain-hunting trolley-dash at the expense of the traditional retailers. After two years working closely with Morrisons, we have learned that Values are as important as Value - and that the clever retail brands are using their marketing activity to achieve equilibrium between the two.

City results and market share data support our understanding that retail winners like Sainsbury's and Morrisons have got it right by ensuring balance between Value and Values. Both have used marketing initiatives to correct imbalances and ensure that the reassurance of brand values continues to influence purchase. And the result is both short - and longer term - payback.

Earlier this month, Waitrose revealed that its new ‘essentials' range, which leads on the surprise of the price, (Waitrose? Talking prices??) has been hugely successful, hitting initial sales targets three months early. As long as Waitrose ensures that its core brand values remain untainted, it will be the latest retailer to benefit from what we might call "Values/Value balance management".

Initiatives like Sainsbury's ‘Feed the family for a fiver' have dispelled the myth that Sainsbury's clear values come at a higher cost. Indeed, its new Value message has encroached on ‘Tesco territory' in a far more effective way than Asda's renewed reliance on price and pocket-tapping.

Morrisons, meanwhile, has had to address public perceptions from the opposite perspective. While Value has always been intrinsic to the Morrisons proposition, the brand needed to develop marketing activity which would demonstrate its Values.

At Billington Cartmell we help manage this challenge, working on a dual approach which uses Morrisons ‘Price Crunch' Value message alongside a new focus on Values, manifested through activity such as the CSR ‘Today' campaign, the ‘Let's Grow' schools initiative, and also - importantly - engagement and signposting of the frontline specialists (such as butchers, fishmongers, etc) in the stores themselves. It is this demonstration - rather than simple declaration - that allows us to strike the balance between Values and Value and deliver an optimum brand message.

And consumer research suggests that the approach is delivering a lot more than just short-term results. Indeed, our research indicates that once shoppers have been driven to try new offerings they are more likely to keep using them as part of their retailer repertoire.

Retailers are not alone in benefiting from this type of brand strength. Risk-averse ‘recession consumers' are showing a preference for branded, rather than own-brand, products. The sharper supplier brands are working with retailers to deliver solutions which build both their own brands, while supporting the retailer brand.

As with so many things, you get what you pay for. Make your brand cheap at your peril. Consumers won't remember getting a short-term deal; what they will remember is a brand experience that delivers all the way - quality as well as quantity, Values as well as Value.