Leeds-based supermarket chain, Asda, has dismissed the celebrity-filled ads of its competitors, with a cut-price television campaign.
Its marketing spend is 10% less than last year, with chief marketing officer, Steve Smith saying that it was “more important to invest money directly into lowering the prices of all our products instead of producing costly campaigns that just keep the ad guys happy.”
Those “ad guys” are VCCP, which was handed the £100m advertising account in August, replacing Saatchi & Saatchi. Saatchi & Saatchi was behind last year’s Christmas television campaign, which received a number of complaints from viewers that thought it was sexist – although these were dismissed by the ASA.
So, while Marks & Spencer has Helena Bonham Carter and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Asda has 4 snowmen, wearing scarves. The scarves are coloured to represent competitors, but the green (Asda) snowman is bigger and happier than his friends. The strap line reads: You’re Better off at Asda.
While Smith said that the cost of the media had dropped, the frequency has risen, with a far larger reach than before. The television campaign starts this Saturday during X Factor and the brand will also be taking over the show’s App to get viewers to create their own snowman.
