SuperValu had been losing market share, with value identified as a key factor (Kantar). The sudden lockdown, due to COVID-19, presented an opportunity. Increased in-home cooking meant the nation needed daily inspiration but also needed value with increased shopping bills.
Typically, SuperValu used brand ambassadors (celebrity chefs) to showcase high quality ranges, in more premium environments like instore events, demonstrations and tastings. But this was THE perfect time to showcase instead, the SuperValu budget range. However, there were no production crews available to create content and Supervalu needed to be first to react to customer’s needs!
SuperValu went back to basics – on all fronts!
In partnership with RTE TV, SuperValu used ambassadors Kevin Dundon and The Happy Pear to create a TV cookery miniseries, airing as a solus spot immediately after the 6pm News. Capitalising on the now captive news audience, the content was shot with one camera, directly from the chef’s own kitchen, and viewers warmed to the authentic style.
RTE’s afternoon show used live links to the chef’s kitchens for longer demonstrations and social media content amplified it all. Back to basics on production, back to TV, back to basics ingredients. All products came from the low-cost range but using the celebrity chefs brought style and inspiration at great value.
Double the viewers (versus pre-COVID) drove spikes in traffic to SuperValu’s website (Google Analytics). This quick response gave SuperValu first mover advantage and was one of the initiatives helping them reclaim the no.1 spot in their sector (Kantar).
