Woolworths approached M&C Saatchi to help them reignite customers’ trust and connection with the Woolies brand.
Over the last five years, the category had changed.
New entrants such as Aldi attracted customers with bespoke own brands and low prices.
And Coles continued to attack Woolworths with constant discounting, adding their own take on the ‘fresh’ positioning that had been the cornerstone of the Woolworths brand for decades.
Although a staggering 90% of Australians were still shopping at Woolworths every month, they were less brand-loyal.
For the first time ever, Woolworths were losing to Coles on the key consumer drivers, Fresh and Price.
Despite huge equity in “Fresh Food People”, it had become nothing more than an advertising line.
And their strongest competitors were perceived as “fresh enough, for less”.
Woolworths was in no-man’s-land.
We needed to remind Australians why they pick Woolworths.
Rather than endless discount messages, we wanted to restart a conversation.
- Because there were myriad reasons why they shop there.
Affordability, well, that goes without saying.
But it’s also the shopping experience.
- Knowledgeable staff with a happy smile and a helping hand.
- The grocer who always knows what’s in season.
And Woolworths have always gone the extra mile, or extra thousand miles, to find the freshest and best produce.
After all, Australians love fresh food.
They know how to cook it and pick it. And what a great word ‘pick’ is.
It’s organic. It’s natural.
It’s the moment a carrot is pulled from the earth, or finding that perfect avocado in store.
But it’s also a word about choice.
And more Australians choose Woolworths than any other store.
Which led us to our brand relaunch campaign.
In July, “That’s Why I Pick Woolies” launched with a nostalgic 60 sec TVC celebrating fresh food at its best - the Sunday roast.
This was followed by several 30 sec TVCs highlighting the many reasons people shop at Woolies – from the helpful staff, free fruit for kids, the affordable lamb roast, the half-time oranges, to the value of a dollar.
It rolled out through localised OOH and POS nationwide, print, social and online.
To keep the momentum going, the brand campaign was quickly followed by an epic Olympics sponsorship campaign and a relaunch of Insurance and Mobile under the Woolworths brand.
The early tracking and sales are incredibly positive.
But the true measure of success is what the M&C Saatchi team achieved in those short six months.
Creating and producing three large integrated campaigns would be a huge achievement by anyone’s standards.
But we designed, and built, an entirely new type of working model too.
A bespoke, offsite workspace designed to allow M&C Saatchi and the Woolworths team to work side by side.
Every day.
Shared premises, new ways of working and a shared goal.
Bringing Woolies back into the hearts of every Australian.
“We couldn’t be happier with our fledgling relationship with M&C Saatchi. In a short first six months since awarding the business, we’ve transitioned our big, complex account into the agency, built a unique, bespoke operating model and launched a major body of exciting new work. That’s all testament to M&C Saatchi’s energy, positivity, transparency, spirit of collaboration and unswerving focus on excellence in the work. We now think of the agency team as true partners to our business and we’re loving working together as a single team on the Woolworths brand.”
– Nick Chapman
General Manager, Marketing Communications and Brand – Woolworths General Manager General Manager