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Sainsbury’s pronounced World Cup winners

If the multiples can be compared to football teams, then Tesco is like Portugal - it's a love-hate thing

Each of the UK’s top four grocery multiples have used the World Cup for a marketing push which well reflects their different customer appeals, but its Sainsbury’s which has made the most of the opportunity, according to European creative agency FPP Brand Communications.

FPP Director Peter de Wesselow says: “The World Cup should be a tremendous revenue generator. The top four grocery retailers all made their mark in different ways, not far removed to the diversity of playing styles that we have seen on the pitch. In terms of strength in all parts of the field, you would have to say the winners are Sainsbury, a cohesive German-like performance. However, for individual flair, Tesco (playing as Portugal) is perhaps the player of the tournament for its ‘Love / Hate’ positioning and potential reward for every shopper.

“For tactical nous, and some great touches, the prize goes to Asda (our French team), while for unbridled fun (happy to be there in a Trinidad and Tobago type of way) our prize goes to Morrison. And biggest under-achiever: Somerfield…taking on the English mantle.”

FPP visited eight stores in Newcastle upon Tyne, to see what each store was doing, in terms of general excitement as well as specific offers, and to see how the approach varied by company.

Each store was assessed and marked on a number of criteria ranging from the store approach (including car park and foyer) to in-store point-of-sale, staff participation and overall impression gained.

The agency found that, Sainsbury’s, the official England supermarket, had maximised its sponsorship with a comprehensive display. The approach was a well co-ordinated range of activity throughout the store, with lots of hanging banners communicating offers from tournament sponsors and non-sponsors alike. There were also plenty of World Cup merchandise displays, centred around the unique ‘Football Heroes’ collectables.

Tesco is the only retailer to recognise that football is not to everyone’s taste with their clever positioning of ‘Love Football, Hate Football?’ It was also the only retailer to use a game card mechanic to reward all purchases of over £10. Talking of love, Asda’s theme of ‘Love the Game’ included point-of-sale that genuinely got across the passion of the fans. Rooney proudly fronts the whole campaign – Asda must have been relieved he made it to Germany…albeit departing in difficult circumstances.

Less corporate than the others but arguably more fun, Morrison had placed a strong emphasis on bunting and flags. There was a real party atmosphere. The theming of ‘Festival of Football’ and ‘Burstin’ with Offers’, as well as the gondola end of merchandise with the ‘Come on England’ header, all supported this more down-to-earth, spontaneous feel. While the bunting and first aisle feature remind us that the tournament is on, there was little extra on offer from Somefields. The emphasis was on sponsors’ on pack and pricing offers. Waitrose has very little on offer…perhaps hoping to give customers an oasis of calm from football madness. While Marks and Spencer does feature a clever ‘sandwich of two halves’, it could not be compared to the major players.

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