• Waitrose needed to increase shopper frequency in a marketplace dominated by big spenders
• TV was the linchpin of the campaign used to amplify other channels and  Waitrose was transformed
• In 2010, Waitrose was the fastest growing supermarket and sales were up 10%

The Challenge

Waitrose is arguably the most loved of all supermarkets. Food lovers admire its innovative produce and patrons love its fair practices. However, it was not without its problems. Waitrose were looking to improve their value perception and wanted to position themselves as an everyday shopping destination as it was seen as a place for the “special occasion” shop.

Traditionally Waitrose advertised 3 or 4 times a year with seasonal bursts to drive footfall and improve awareness. The problem with this burst approach was that every time they weren’t on TV their value perceptions and awareness scores fell significantly. By comparison their competitors were almost always on TV – allowing them to steal share. There was also the issue of share of voice. Waitrose had a share of voice (SOV) of about 5% in a very formulaic and aggressive market where the competitive set’s advertising spend was growing by c.18% year on year. Much of this growth was driven by promotions.

The challenge for Waitrose was twofold – they had to increase the frequency of shops and they needed to give shoppers a compelling reason to shop there more frequently. A way they could achieve this would be to change the advertising approach from seasonal bursts to drip. They also had to develop a share of mind strategy that would make the limited budget go further and improve relevancy scores in spite of a lower SOV.

Waitrose made four radical changes with the aim to address the challenge. Firstly they doubled their media budget year on year. Secondly they moved from being a seasonal to weekly advertiser. Thirdly they put content at the heart of their campaign and finally they employed two celebrity brand ambassadors.

They embarked on an analysis of consumer trends to discover if there was anything they could capitalise on. The research found an area they could tap into and own; scratch cooking – the rise in households cooking meals from scratch. Other research showed they had a strong foundation in this area with strong scores in areas such as “Better quality food than other supermarkets”, “Sell food that really inspires you” and “Help discover delicious new foods”. From this research a new advertising approach was developed.

The TV Solution

Using their two celebrity brand ambassadors – Britain’s best loved cook Delia Smith and the charismatic owner of three Michelin starred The Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal, Waitrose embarked on a programme to capitalise on the country’s appetite for improving their culinary skills. Bucking the market trend of deep discounting and “quick fix” meal solutions, Delia and Heston delivered a mini cookery show each week with a recipe, a tip, and an offer each week.

Due to the content-led format of the mini-series, it was essential that TV was the lead channel. The broadcast nature built coverage quickly and increased the potential for crossover with other channels adding depth to the campaign. Using a variety of other channels also helped reach lighter TV viewers and made the campaign more efficient.

The biggest test for Waitrose was how to increase SOV in a marketplace where they knew they couldn’t compete financially. The key was to find the most pertinent time to increase share of mind and relevancy. That window was weekends (Thursday to Saturday). During this period the shoppers’ baskets were worth double the mid-week shoppers and people generally had more time to shop at the weekend and so searches for recipe content peaked.

Consumers primarily watch TV for entertainment and therefore its lead role was to showcase the mini cookery shows each week. Waitrose had a strong southern bias in terms of store sites (64% in London and SE) and so the TV weights were adjusted by region to further enhance efficiency of airtime.

The TV campaign needed to standout and be talked about from the moment it was launched to give a taste of what was to come from the new look Waitrose. MGOMD decided the best way to do this would be to treat the launch like it were a blockbuster film. The following strategies were employed – episodic TV copy, “film” teasers, stature outdoor, and an “act now” print approach. For the launch they showcased a 210” episode-style TV spot designed like a TV cookery show. The spot was aired in the centre break of Coronation Street on ITV1 as well as the centre break of Country House Rescue on Channel 4. Combined these two shows delivered 10 million impacts and 20 ABC1HW TVRs – the perfect springboard from which to launch the campaign. To ensure the spots were watched by as many people as possible, a multichannel teaser campaign ran two weeks beforehand to drive awareness and capitalise on WOM. Outdoor was also utilised as well as press with announcements in the TV listings of newspapers on the day of transmission. The campaign drove the sharpest leap in spontaneous awareness for the brand ever seen.

To increase frequency of shops it was important the weekly campaign touched the same consumers every week and so Waitrose decided to sponsor Food on Channel 4. Bespoke research discovered that Waitrose shoppers were 18% more likely to be lovers of Food on 4 so this was a perfect fit for the brand. With 6 credible high profile programmes in the package as well as increasing share of mind and frequency, the association would improve their perceived authority on food. Despite there being a natural crossover with the TV plan, the sponsorship added 2% coverage across the year.

Towards the end of 2010, Waitrose further linked their media touchpoints with the inclusion of a QR (quick response) code at the end of their Christmas TV advert. The QR code which also ran across print executions linked consumers to the Waitrose iPhone application which featured recipes and gift ideas. Over 4,000 consumers downloaded the app which was a huge number achieved from what was essentially a test and learn element of the campaign.

Results

In 2010, Waitrose enjoyed their most successful year to date and are the UK’s fastest growing supermarket

Sales increased 10% to cross £5bn mark for first time in company’s history

The John Lewis Partnership were voted retailer of the year at the 2011 Retail Week Awards and Waitrose was awarded Which? Supermarket of the Year Award (June 2011) and also topped the Which? Magazine Supermarket Satisfaction Survey for second year running (Jan 2011)

Consumers who saw the TV activity including the sponsorship were more likely to feel brand warmth and more likely to be motivated to cook more

Waitrose won the prestigious Thinkbox TV Planning Awards Best Use Of TV in an Integrated Campaign award and bagged the Grand Prix to boot

“We are thrilled with the success of 2010 and our integrated approach to media was at the heart of this success. It enabled us to deliver efficiencies and ROIs on a scale never witnessed before, and crucially drove consumers through the doors.”

Jo Massey,
Manager,
Advertising - Waitrose