The appointment was made after Somerfield decided move up a gear with its Saver Card scheme, a year since it was fully rolled out. It has 3m cardholders and 60% of sales are linked to the card.
THe supermarket chain did not previously have a relationship with a direct agency, except RMP for in-store and local marketing. Saver Card was developed and implemented with loyalty specialist Catalina Marketing and targets around 1m customers every week with offers tailored to their behaviour in-store.
WWAV will devise and deliver direct marketing campaigns that will enable Somerfield to build its customer value proposition around the card.
Andrea McCarry, head of local marketing for Somerfield Saver Card, said: "We were impressed by WWAV's ability to link brand and data in the creation and rollout of effective communication programmes and have great trust in their delivery capabilities."
Somerfield describes itself as the UK's biggest neighbourhood supermarket, with around 90% of its stores in town centres or residential areas.
Instead of being based on points accumulated over a period of time, the Somerfield Saver Card allows customers to get instant rewards at the check-out. It offers members-only discounts as well as coupons tailored to individuals based on their purchasing history.
Somerfield recently agreed to buy 140 of Texaco's forecourt shops. This will grow its petrol station presence to more than 170 stores nationwide and the stores will be rebranded to Somerfield.
It predicts that its convenience stores will more than double sales to 拢210m by May. Its convenience-store division comprises 92 shops and has been earmarked as a key growth area.
Pic: Somerfield
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