It has revamped its advertising, hiring actor Paul Kaye, better known as Dennis Pennis, to appear as Dave, a young father who uses Woolworths for all his shopping needs.
The beleaguered retailer, which was demerged from Kingfisher last August, has been under-performing because it has failed to get across the message to consumers that it is a store with multiple product offerings.
The ads, created by Bates UK, will also introduce a branding device, a red W, which will feature in all marketing communications.
Although more than 90% of the UK public have visited a Woolworths branch during their lives, the firm acknowledged that there has been a problem in communicating the full range of its offer, which spans stationery, kids' clothing, confectionery, homewares, toys and CDs.
That has been reflected in poor like-for-like sales growth and criticism from chairman Gerald Corbett that Woolworths' marketing has underperformed. In March, its annual results recorded a £46m loss for the year to February against a £54m profit the year before.
Marketing director Octavia Morley and head of brand communications Mark Trinder, who joined recently from Hasbro, are behind the strategy, which adopts a through-the-line branding approach. Woolworths has reviewed its customer base to find ways of encouraging them to shop at its 818 stores.
The first ad with Kaye is a back-to-school campaign that begins on Monday. The ads are designed to communicate a fresh, modern impression.
The "Dave" campaign replaces its ads of four years, "Don't forget what you went in for", which dovetailed with last year's Christmas campaign featuring celebrities such as Des Lynam.
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