Adwatch (Jan 18) - Top 20 recall: Tesco

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It’s the first day back in the office after Christmas and I’m picking through the leftovers of last month’s commercial breaks for Adwatch. Not surprisingly, almost all of them have a festive flavour.

So, knowing that most of us have over-indulged in a certain poultry product within the past month, ?I have decided to pick the Christmas ad in the list that, in my opinion, bears the least resemblance to a turkey.

The Tesco ad isn’t great. It’s certainly not as good as the Des O’Connor spot from a few years back. All the same, it’s very watchable, because it’s nicely observed and there is something new to see every time it’s on.

This is lucky, because it was on rather a lot. For those of you who did manage to miss it, the creative idea is a simple one. We are shown scenes from around Britain, little vignettes of what makes different people’s perfect Christmas.

All the while, the alliterative and sometimes rhyming words spoken by Julie Walters tell us how none of this would be possible without the presence of Tesco in every town and city in the country.

I like the way it’s been shot. I particularly like the opening scene of the fishing boat in Falmouth festooned with fairy lights (allite-ration not intended, but I’ll keep it in, as Marketing has asked me to write a certain number of words, and every little helps).

There’s also something friendly and familiar about this ad. It’s kind of old-fashioned, which is what we ?all want at Christmas. We like every-thing traditional, so we expect a bit of fake snow to be used here and there (in this case, in Manchester and Cumbria).

It is a shame, then, that the commercial ends in a Tesco store, the shelves filled to capacity, the staff eagerly awaiting our custom. We all know what the inside of a supermarket looks like, and we’ve seen loads of product all the way through the execution anyway. So it does seem a bit unnecessary, for an ad that tries so hard to get us in the right mood for Christmas.

Overall, the tone of voice seems to be spot-on for Tesco. It’s not too upmarket; it’s not too downmarket. It’s not too serious, silly, quiet or shouty.

Tesco is positioned as the supermarket for the everyman. The ad is simply trying to tell us that, whoever we are and wherever we live, we can get what we need ?for Christmas at Tesco.

Brand strategy verdict

The ad effectively communicates ?the strategy that Tesco has lots of stores all over the country selling you inexpensive stuff that will make your Christmas special, but I worry about those supermarket shots. Are they in there to show a return to Tesco’s 80s strategy of ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’? I hope not.

6.5/10

League Tables

Adwatch (December 14): Top 20 recall
Latest	Dec-07	Brand	Agency/TV Buyer	Recall
rank				%
1	(6=)	Argos	CHI & Partners/Mindshare	69
2	-2	Currys & PC World	M&C Saatchi/Walker Media	47
3	(–)	Iceland	The Tom Reddy Agency/MediaCom North	43
4	-1	Marks & Spencer	RKCR Y&R/Walker Media	42
5=	-5	Isme	Addiction London/Carat	37
5=	(–)	Freeview	Leo Burnett/MEC	37
5=	(–)	Burger King	Open & PArtners, DLKW Lowe/Initiative	37
8=	(–)	Comparethemarket.com	VCCP/ZenithOptimedia	35
8=	(–)	Aunt Bessie's	VCCP/Vizeum UK	35
10	(–)	WH Smith	DLKW/Carat	33
11=	(–)	The Co-operative	TBWA\Manchester/PHD Rocket	32
11=	(–)	Nintendo 3DS	Karmarama/MEC	32
11-	(–)	Lindt	Gotham/MediaCom	32
14	(–)	Apple iPad 2	TBWA\Media Arts Lab/OMD UK	31
15	(9=)	Aldi	McCann Erickson Manchester/Universal McCann Manchester	30
16=	(–)	Britvic J20	Bartle Bogle Hegarty/MCHI	28
16=	(–)	Tesco	The Red Brick Road/Initiative	28
16=	(6=)	Asda	Saatchi & Saatchi/Carat	28
19	(–)	National Lottery – EuroMillions	Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO/OMD UK	27
20	(–)	Microsoft Windows 7	Crispin Porter & Bogusky/Universal McCann	25

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk