Coles no longer down with catchy marketing campaign
THE warfare in Australia’s grocery sector has claimed an unlikely victim: Coles’ highprofile “Down Down” TV advertising campaign.
Coles is resting the campaign as part of a move to rejuvenate its brand and counter the resurgence of arch rival Woolworths and the rise of foreign grocers.
The Wesfarmers-owner supermarket chain wants to change how it is perceived by customers, broadening its marketing from the heavy price focus of the Down Down campaign.
It is launching a new series of ads tonight that carry the slogan “Good things are happening at Coles”.
Prominent chef Curtis Stone – a long-time ambassador for Coles – features heavily in the new campaign.
It promotes factors beyond low prices, including the grocer’s support for Australian fruit and vegetable growers, relationship with charities, and plans to phase out single-use plastic bags at check-outs.
The Down Down campaign, featuring the use of distinctive “big red hands” to highlight price cuts, is more than five years old.
British rock act Status Quo fronted early versions of the campaign with a jingle based on their 1970s hit Down Down.
They passed the baton last year to Australian pop star Casey Donovan, who sung a revised version of the tune.
The first incarnation of the campaign was launched when Scotsman Ian McLeod was running the grocery heavyweight, overseeing a sweeping turnaround in its fortunes.
Coles’ move to overhaul its marketing comes as Woolworths chalks up higher sales growth and interlopers such as Aldi, Costco and, soon, Kaufland, encroach.
Late last month, Woolies revealed its like-for-like sales – which strip out the impact of shops opening or closing – surged 5.1 per cent the past quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier.
That comprehensively outpaced the 1.4 per cent growth rate at Coles during the same period. Mr McLeod was a champion of the supermarket price wars, spearheaded by the introduction of milk priced at $1 a litre.