Retail Ad 1

ALDI - Food Prices Split Sydney

Launched:
2008

Media used:
Print - Newspaper

Appeal:
Rationale

A short history on the ad:
Aldi's Food Prices Split Sydney was created a week after an article in The Daily Telegraph in 2008 reported that supermarkets discriminate pricing according to suburbs. This event occurred due to the competitive intensity between Aldi, Woolworths and Coles in certain suburbs (Betts, 2009).

Taking responsibility, Aldi quickly responded with this ad, informing the Australian market of its new National Pricing Policy. This policy was in fact, created to provide certainty to Aldi's customers that they were not geographically discriminated against and to guarantee shoppers of the existence of price equality (Aldi Stores, 2008).

Analysis:
The first critical element of the ad is its placement. Having read the history of the ad earlier on, it can be observed that Aldi was brilliant to place the ad in newspapers.
The ad generally targets newspaper readers who are aware of the price difference situation. These readers are highly likely to read ALDI's ad in the paper the following week (assuming they read at a daily basis), thus, the ad already has a guaranteed readership.

Secondly, it was observed that Aldi used a cut-out of the newspaper article's headlines, "Food Prices Split Sydney." A reason for including this cut-out is to grab the readers' attention, before the content of the ad informs consumers of its new National Pricing Policy - the practice of price equality in all stores. Therefore, the ad fulfills two of the necessary aspects of an effective ad, attraction and attention.

Additionally, the level of care and environmental-alertness shown by the ad may produce a positive perception of the brand in the minds of newspaper readers. A side benefit derived from the cut-out would probably be to reduce counter arguments that could arise from its competitors.

Thirdly, the ad not only attracted readers of the "Food Prices Split Sydney" article, but also its current customers. This is evident with the use of the colour blue in the ad, which is found consistent between ALDI's ads, logo and website. Hence, the blue-coloured ad would alert loyal ALDI customers that the ad is from them (ALDI) and prompt them to read the content.

References:

1. ALDI Stores (2008). Another ALDI first with national pricing. Retrieved from http://www.aldi.com.au/au/media/company/04_media/20080402_Another_ALDI_first_with_National_Pricing.pdf
2. ALDI Stores (2011). Fairer prices for ALL Australians. Retrieved from http://aldi.com.au/au/html/service/national_pricing_fairer_prices.htm
3. Betts, M. (2009). Survey finds Geelong has the nation's cheapest groceries. Herald Sun. Retrieved from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/survey-finds-geelong-has-the-nations-cheapest-groceries/story-e6freuzr-1225804412925.