Last month, Coles relaunched its loyalty program, Flybuys, as it upped the ante in its war with Woolworths.
As part of the relaunch, the company rolled out a major advertising campaign, fronted by celebrity chef Curtis Stone and comedienne Dawn French.
Brand experts were asked: How is the campaign impacting the Coles brand? How will it impact the brand in relation to Woolworths? Could anything have been done differently for optimum brand impact?
EuroRSCG planning head Phil Johnston:
A genius idea lives in this campaign.
No, it’s not using Dawn French (save that discussion for a different day) or more Flybuys per dollar spent. It’s much simpler. It’s an innovation that will have Australia’s shoppers signing up in droves. It’s My5.
Sign up, nominate 5 products that you buy regularly and every-time you spend more than $50 you’ll get 10% off those 5 products. That adds up … $10/$15 per shop, maybe more? Sure beats 4c off a litre of petrol.
My5’s beauty is that it gives tangible, cash-in-hand savings that truly reward loyalty and frequency of shopping at Coles. It’s an immediate benefit that shatters my perception that I had to shop at Coles for seven years to get a Flybuys flight to Coffs Harbour. It’s a benefit that locks me in pretty tight to Coles.
Bang on brief considering Coles managing director, Ian McLeod, said, “We wanted to make Flybuys the card for the frequent buyer, not just the frequent flyer.”
Many necessary changes have helped Coles outperform Woolies for the last 11 Quarters. My5 at the heart of Flybuys will give Woolies more performance worries.
My5. As Coles (annoyingly) say, “Ta Dah”.
JMK chief executive Julian Martin:
I start off as a total fan of the Coles advertising from the ‘Down, Down’ launch onwards (Normie Rowe ad an exception). It’s big, bold, happy, cheesy, upbeat, audacious, human, popular and communicates clearly. It’s awakened the consumer, shaken the competitor, and made sections of our industry either jealous or insecure (some both). And this new campaign is no exception.
It takes a very old and tired product like Fly Buys that I had stopped using and gives it a big revamp. The My5 addition is great and clearly branded. Who doesn’t want 10% off five products of their choice? As Dawn French says ‘it's like picking your own specials’.
The idea of Dawn French running wild (at a press conference, in a Coles store, around the neighbourhood) to trumpet the offer works well for the offer and suits her. Hard hitting copy lines that incorporate Coles communications equities: ‘Down down, take another 10% off’, ‘Say bye bye shopping, hello fly buying’. And some bawdy humour that moves Coles into the ‘carry on’ territory like ‘10% off your sausage’ and Dawn’s fawning over Curtis.
This campaign expands the creative platform and adds measureable value to the ‘Down, Down’ value story. I’m sure it's working. What is there not to like?
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