I saw a presentation this morning by self styled "chubby grocer" (great moniker) Mark Price, MD of Waitrose. There was something quite unique about the way he described the approach they have to their communications. It’s been about 10 years since Waitrose ended their advertising drought (for about 100 years the partnership believed that investment in the product would suffice) in the face of the huge competitive pressure of the UK Grocery market and the need to raise awareness of their genuinely unique consumer benefits. Since then they’ve done some consistently brilliant advertising and design creative.
In a market where it often seems to be a competition as to who can
shout loudest, they have taken an altogether different approach, and
developed a discrete but powerful positioning. Mark used words like
‘gentle’ and ‘soft’ (including the Theodore Roosevelt "Speak softly and
carry a big stick" quote). How often do you hear words like that in the
retail market? I like a lot of what Waitrose do, but thought that was
particularly special. For all the Chelsea fans out there here’s some great tactical work by Kitcatt Nohr they’ve done today off the back of this morning’s news of Jose Mourinho’s departure. And seeing as how I’m a bona fide poultry owner myself, here’s the one about chickens…
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