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But Meteorite's Dan Douglass believes the appeal of discounters Asda and Lidl, and the unprecedented desperation and aggression to retail price promotion, is threatening to bury retail brands.

In the beginning was the word. And the word was ‘Free'. Swiftly followed by ‘Save'. Even the Lord enjoyed a Free day, a duvet day. ‘Set my people Free', pleaded Moses to the Egyptians.  ‘I did not come to judge the world but to save the world', proclaimed Jesus.

Sinners were ‘incentivised' to repent with the promise of eternal salvation - buy into the church, get absolution free and collect enough sin-renouncing points to enjoy heavenly member benefits. Sales promotion by any other name.

Don't think I'm playing fast and loose with religion by sullying the sacred with gratuitous brand references. The Bishop of Reading set that precedent. He was the one who said Jesus would shop at Asda and Lidl, not me.

For two reasons.  

First, because Christ was honest, down to earth, transparent, genuine. And honesty is now at a premium in the world of brands. Christ made meagre resources go further. He stretched the budget. He walked with the people. Even then, true to form, I'm sure he'd forgo the heady temptations of the preserves and condiments aisle for the simple offers of the fish counter and the bakery.

Which is why, according to Bishop Cottrell, Jesus wouldn't be seen dead in Marks & Spencer's because it's for the ‘suited and booted'. Asda and Lidl are far more to his no-frills tastes (which is no doubt why he'd have appreciated the latest no-nonsense campaign from Dixon's, knocking the pretensions of the more fashionable retail establishments).

And the other reason Christ would choose Lidl? ‘Jesus saves' and therefore he'd appreciate the discounts.

The news that Sainsbury's is to invest millions in a new loyalty scheme that will involve a billion vouchers being issued - their biggest investment in loyalty since entering the Nectar scheme in 2002 - may therefore prompt the Bishop to re-think Our Saviour's supermarket brand preferences. 

This scheme rewards shoppers with coupons worth up to 20% off at the till, which will be printed off and reflect their tastes or data contained on their Nectar card.  It outsmarts Tesco inasmuch as vouchers will be issued on the spot through standalone printers across its whole retail estate.

In retail marketing, we believe that the raw animal attraction of ‘free' and ‘save' is hard-wired into our consumers' neural pathways - their receptors tingle to its tickle. It's as unshakeable as faith, as potent and as enduring. In fact, it is an article of faith.

Of course, most ‘suited and booted' people would like to eschew the ‘belt and braces' price promotions. The M&S shopper prefers the more seductive approach - a cerebral massage with emollient words. They resent the hard slap of ‘Free' and ‘save'. For them, it's more the value-driven ‘Dine in for £10'.

Despite the fact that most of us in marketing are similarly inclined, we are nevertheless in thrall to market forces and we rebound back to the proven, the tried and tested. We pay reluctant homage to the two most powerful words in the English language - ‘Free' and ‘Save' - because we know they trigger our consumers' most primitive motivations. And ultimately that keeps us in jobs.

At some time in their careers, every creative has reached to find another currency to replace this base and debased coin just as the unrequited lover hopes they will be the one to turn a bad person good or a gay person straight. Although deep down we know ‘Free' and ‘Save' cannot be bettered, we will not stop trying. Because, as we all know, originality is our virtue.

But things have changed. There's an unprecedented desperation and aggression to price promotion that's threatening to bury the brands they serve.

Cast your mind back to the end of last year, when retailers competed more fiercely on discount than at any other time in living memory. As a clothing retailer, if you weren't offering a mammoth 70% off, you weren't even in the game. Shop after shop up Regent Street, their windows ablaze with angry percentage signs. A vortex which even sucked in my favourite fashion retailer Reiss, who were offering an unprecedented 70% off. Before Christmas.

It hasn't gone away. Like necrotizing fasciitis, it feeds off itself.

Retail brands have taken the cue from the recession to be recessive on everything but price. And price promotion has come to overshadow creativity. It's as if we're buying the discount, not the product.

It not only results in a paucity of good creative as entertainment - it results in a poverty of the imagination on the part of the consumer.

And it ends in the sheer madness of someone buying a cast-off wedding package on E-Bay for £55 - venue, catering for 150 people, buffet, disco, the lot. But there again, planning a church ceremony around the availability of a discounted food, beverage and hospitality package is something which I'm sure The Bishop of Reading would view as a good Christian thing to do.

If there are golden rules for retailers emerging from this recession, it's this. Value, not price, is the way to re-assert your brand's status. Don't let counter-offensive measures become the norm. Retain the integrity of your brand by adopting a clear and consistent message at every touch-point, provide a seamless customer experience cross-channel, offer the customer diverse ways to interact with you and ask their permission, be relevant through a single customer view. But don't don't, don't crucify your brand in the process.

Most important of all, be entertaining, be provocative, be subversive, be charming, be whatever  your brand personality allows -  just don't be boring, don't just throw the bald discount at shoppers.

Subway had the right idea when they supported their Free coffee promotion with the words ‘Morning has broken.  Fix it'.  A new riff on the Kat Stevens spiritual. And proof, as if any were needed, that the devil may have all the best tunes, but God has all the best ideas. The Messiah, I'm sure, would approve.

Here endeth the lesson.

Dan Douglass is executive creative director at Meteorite