Advertiser: ALDI
Agency: Starcom
Highly commended: Advertiser of the year
Challenge
ALDI has long held the crown as the go-to for supermarket value. At a time when UK households are feeling the squeeze, ALDI’s mission has never been more relevant: helping families stretch their budgets without compromising on quality.
However, the cost-of-living crisis had led to an increase in aggressive ALDI price match campaigns, with competitors’ long-standing tenancy agreements with press titles weakening the supermarket’s share of voice.
The challenge was to make ALDI unmissable when shoppers plan their week, by strengthening the supermarket’s visibility and going big — a consistent category presence over more than 12 months to reinforce ALDI’s price leadership and ensuring ALDI owned the early-week window before rivals mobilised.
Approach
ALDI leant into the value of trusted, authentic news brands for driving both short-term action and long-lasting brand advantage.
To build a long-term approach, ALDI grounded its news brand strategy in key insights: consumers consistently turn to news brands for guidance on household spending and value-led messaging works best when delivered early in the reader journey and in high-attention placements.
Focussing on the largely untapped, early-week window, ALDI identified news brands that aligned with its value-conscious audience. The Sun delivered considerable reach among mass-market, price-conscious households. Daily Mail, Metro, and The i Paper offered breadth and depth, with Mail Metro Media providing an opportunity to engage shoppers across diverse life stages.
The campaign was focussed on putting ALDI front of mind across platforms in the moments shoppers planned their grocery week. Fixed print tenancies running across the Daily Mail, Metro, and The i Paper positioned ALDI as the first advertiser, with full-page placements in high-attention zones. Digital takeovers extended ALDI’s presence across the day in trusted news environments.
Early-week tenancy with The Sun ensured ALDI dominated Monday to Wednesday, ahead of the usual mid-to-late-week supermarket action. Then, by running on Thursday, ALDI reached shoppers at the exact moment they were thinking about value. This approach created a 12-month drumbeat of visibility, delivering consistent and credible messaging.
Results
ALDI’s consistent, news brand-led approach delivered powerful results in both the short and long term, turning visibility into measurable business outcomes.
In the short term, ALDI achieved 74% recall versus a 52% benchmark. Prompted awareness rose by 41% and importantly, ALDI’s value message translated directly into behaviour, with 90% of engaged readers visiting stores, browsing online or trialling ALDI recipes. Among readers recalling The Sun tenancy, 93% said they were more likely to shop at ALDI.
In the long term, ALDI maintained its title as ‘Which? Cheapest Supermarket’ in 21 of 22 months. News brands provided a consistent drumbeat of credibility, reinforcing ALDI as the UK’s price benchmark. This sustained visibility cemented ALDI’s place first in mind for value-conscious shoppers.
Client’s view
News brands gave us the credibility, consistency and cut-through to stay top of mind week after week, while proving that trusted attention drives real-world results for ALDI.
Kyrsten Halley, Interaction Marketing Director, ALDI
