Supermarkets to shun star ties for price focus

by Jemima Bokaie, Marketing 26-Feb-08, 06:30

LONDON - UK supermarkets are shifting away from celebrity-backed marketing strategies toward price promotions, ahead of an expected slowdown in consumer spending.

Asda has frozen its adspend at £51m, last year's level, and is moving away from celebrity ads, featuring Victoria Wood, Ian Wright and Julie Walters, which it introduced just a year ago.

The supermarket said it will not commission any additional celebrity ads, and will instead build on its weekly ads that use mySupermarket.com to compare its and Tesco's prices.

Asda chief executive Andy Bond said: 'We have been lazy in explaining that we are the lowest-priced supermarket.'

Tesco has no plans to use celebrities in its ads this year, either, despite a long history of following this strategy, including hiring the Spice Girls for its Christmas work. It is currently promoting three-for-two on wine and offering £10 off first-time online orders of £50 or more.

Waitrose is to push its price-focused strategy, matching Sainsbury's prices on up to 100 products. There is ongoing speculation that Sainsbury's will part with Jamie Oliver later in the year.