Tesco has marked its return to TV advertising this weekend with major new campaigns in the UK and Ireland. The UK campaign comes courtesy of BBH London (the first major Tesco TV campaign from the agency), and focuses on helping customers, whilst also firmly re-establishing Tesco’s famous “Every Little Helps” sign-off by putting the many different ways it helps customers at the heart of its advertising. The campaign launch is timed to follow the improvements Tesco has put in place over the last year to help make the shopping trip easier for customers, including improvements in customer service, availability and lowering the prices on many of the everyday, own label and branded products customers rely on.
Tesco – Brand Guarantee
The first advert follows a new Tesco family as they go about their regular shop, and stars Gavin and Stacy star Ruth Jones as the mum, comedian Ben Miller as the dad, and up-and-coming actor Will Close as their son. It focuses on Tesco’s recently-launched Brand Guarantee, the UK’s first price comparison scheme to offer an immediate price match at the till.
The second advert will re-commit Tesco to its much-loved ‘one-in-front’ customer promise. Tesco aims to open a new checkout for customers if more than one customer is queuing in front of them. Both adverts were filmed in Tesco’s newest store in Newmarket.
Tesco – One-in-Front
Michelle McEttrick, group brand director at Tesco said: “For the last year we’ve been putting customers right back at the heart of everything we do, from improvements in customer service, to launching our new Brand Guarantee. So this new campaign presented us with the ideal opportunity to showcase some of those ‘little helps’ we aim to provide customers with each day. Tesco has always been at its best when putting customers first and we hope the new campaign demonstrates our efforts to serve customers a little better every day. We’re really excited to hear what our customers and colleagues think of the new campaign.”
Tesco Ireland and Rothco have launched the humble “Big Can Be Good” campaign to address negative perceptions of the large supermarket chain. Led by a 60 second TVC, the campaign sees Tesco open its heart to Ireland with an honest brand manifesto that talks sincerely and humbly about what they stand for, presenting their intentions and commitments for the future. The campaign takes the very thing that is often seen as a negative about Tesco (its size) and turns it on its head by demonstrating the benefits of that size to customers, suppliers and local communities. The result is an invitation for people to think about Tesco’s size in a new way.
Tesco – We're not just big
Rothco copywriter Bernie Martin said:“This campaign is about unveiling the hidden truths about Tesco as a brand. When we started working with Tesco earlier this year, we wanted to understand what made them tick. So we met colleagues, fruit and veg growers, farmers, the Tesco Quality Team, anyone who’d talk to us, and ultimately, we discovered something we weren’t expecting; that Tesco is a big machine, but it also has a really big heart. The problem was no one seemed to know about all the good things they’ve been doing! With a revival in independent traders and craft produce, consumers have begun to shed a negative light on large corporations. This campaign seeks to reveal the great behind-the-scenes work Tesco is doing to support Irish trade and communities.”
Tesco – Community Fund
To bring the idea to life, Rothco and Tesco combined their thinking with a unique production technique called ‘tilt shift’, creating a toy town Ireland filled with big products, big benefits and big customer promises. Australian film director, Keith Loutit, who pioneered the style, worked on the production for the commercial with the team from Butter and Director Hadi. The campaign will run across TV, press, outdoor, radio, online, POS, Tesco vans and bags through all Tesco Ireland communications for the coming months.
