Fresh seems to be the word in the recent repositionings of two of Canada’s supermarket chains, Loeb Supermarkets and a&p.
Responding to consumer demand for crisper produce, more tender cuts of meat and fresh-from-the-oven baked goods, Loeb has just launched a brand repositioning and store renovation program that puts the emphasis on freshness and quality.
Tom Froggatt, marketing director for Loeb, a division of Montreal-based Provigo, says that consumer demand, in conjunction with competition from big-box stores, is the driving force behind change in the supermarket business.
While grocers used to compete primarily on price, Froggatt says the overall value equation of service, quality and freshness has become the new battlefield.
To that end, he says Loeb is investing more than $43 million over the next 18 months with the goal of better meeting customer expectations in-store. How? Among other things, through improved distribution to better ensure quality and freshness.
‘Tastes are more sophisticated and consumers want more out of their food – not necessarily a bigger steak, but one that tastes better.’
‘It’s the beginning of a big wave,’ he says.
As for the creative, Froggatt says, it will reinforce the warm and friendly personality Loeb had established in the past with themes such as ‘We’re Cooking Together.’
He says that unlike big-box competitors with mammoth stores of 80,000 square feet, Loeb positions itself as a neighborhood supermarket with stores averaging 30,000 to 40,000 square feet – a scale Froggatt says many customers find easier to negotiate.
Over the next couple of weeks, Loeb will introduce a new in-store bakery program. It will then unveil its complete vision – a new logo and store redesign – in November when the renovation of three stores in Windsor have been completed.
A campaign from Loeb’s agency Saffer Group of Toronto launched last week with the theme line, ‘All You Need Is Loeb’ as its centrepiece.
Froggatt says the goal is to tell customers that everything they’re looking for is at Loeb, and because it’s reminiscent of the well-known Beatles tune, All You Need is Love, the potential to play on words is endless.
The company is using lines such as ‘Loeb is Just Around the Corner’ and ‘Fall in Loeb Again’ for occasions such as store renovations.
The new campaign consists of billboards, radio and print in Ontario and Quebec where Loeb has its chain of 102 stores.
A print and outdoor execution that uses the new theme line above various heart-shaped pieces of food is also being used on T-shirts, buttons and postcards that Loeb is giving away to customers.
Meanwhile, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company of Toronto, a Loeb competitor in Ontario, has also launched a new campaign emphasizing freshness.
The multi-media campaign from a&p’s new agency Palmer Jarvis DDB uses the theme, ‘We’re Fresh Obsessed’, for the food chain’s a&p and Dominion banners.
The work was created by the Vancouver office of pj ddb which has won numerous awards for its work for Save-On-Foods of Langley, b.c. It has also done work for the Loblaws and Safeway chains.
a&p operates in Ontario under the a&p, Dominion, Super Fresh, Ultra Food & Drug and Food Basics banners.
