Tesco has launched a scheme where customers can double the value of their Clubcard vouchers, entitling shoppers to impressive discounts on goods ranging from clothing to wine.
The aim of the strategy is to improve customer loyalty and brand advocacy. The advertising campaign to promote the deal launched on 12 May.
Light-hearted ads, which star Fay Ripley and are narrated by Julie Walters, each promote one of the various ways the Clubcard vouchers can be used.
For example, the ad promoting the wine offer shows Ripley's character and her husband deliberating over which wine to pick for a 60th birthday party.
A Tesco assistant helps the pair select a bottle for the special occasion. They exchange their £5 Clubcard voucher for a £10 wine coupon and the ad concludes by showing the 60th birthday celebrations - for the couple's pet tortoise.
The scores on BrandIndex demonstrate how news stories and ad campaigns can combine to improve brand perception.
On 21 April, news broke of Tesco's record annual profit of £3bn, which led to the supermarket achieving its highest net buzz score (+24) since early 2006. Since then, the buzz rating for the brand has returned to a net score of about +5.
After the Clubcard advertising campaign launched on 12 May, net buzz scores for the brand remained relatively stable. This can be attributed to an increase in both positive mentions (due to the new ad) and negative mentions (due to news coverage suggesting Tesco is losing market share).
It is interesting to note how the brand's overall index score has improved since the campaign first launched, thanks to a rise in the majority of indicators for the brand.
Tesco's index score is currently +32 - the highest it has been since November 2008 - and the individual indicator that has shown the greatest increase is the brand's recommend score, up seven points to +43.
With both Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's currently running advertising campaigns based on their heritage, Tesco will hope its Clubcard offer will be enough to keep customers coming back for more.
Richard Wood, www.brandindex.co.uk
METHODOLOGY: YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors. It is measured on a seven-point profile:
1. Buzz
2. General impression
3. Quality
4. Value
5. Satisfaction
6. Recommend
7. Corporate reputation.
In addition, we supply an index score.