Safeway this week launches a premium sub-brand, called ’The Best’,
to rival the likes of Tesco’s ’Finest’ range, in a bid to reposition
itself as a specialist in high quality fresh food.
The new range comes as Safeway tries to turn around profits and sales by
the summer, a pledge chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez made to the
City last November.
Criado-Perez is understood to want to move away from Safeway’s former
marketing focus on families and children to emphasise its fresh foods
and quality ingredients.
The 80-strong Best range will include ’dinner party’-style ingredients,
such as poached salmon and gourmet Mediterranean pate.
Wagstaffs Brand Partners has worked on packaging for the brand, which
will be marketed in-store through Safeway’s customer magazine and via a
direct mail campaign.
Safeway has no plans to return to national advertising. Criado-Perez
suspended all such activity last autumn to focus marketing on a local
basis while Safeway focuses on improvements to its stores.
However, the supermarket retains Bates UK for brand development, local
marketing, relationship marketing and new media.
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