Title	VALUE OF FRESH
Brand	LIDL
Product/Service	FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLES
Category	C01. Brave Brands
Entrant	BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
PR	BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Production	BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Sebastien De Valck	BBDO	Creative Director
Arnaud Pitz	BBDO	Creative Director
Frederik Clarysse	BBDO	Creative
Patricia Van De Kerckhove	BBDO	Head of RTV
Melissa Fastenaekels	BBDO	Account Manager
Shi Qi Ji	BBDO	Account Executive
Dirk Peremans	BBDO	Marketing Strategy Lead & Partner
Mathieu Schots	BBDO Belgium	Sound Engineer
Neil Skeet	BBDO Belgium	Video Editor
Jasper Vanhauwaert	BBDO Belgium	Videographer
Eva Segers	BBDO Belgium	Producer
Paul Popelier	freelance	art director
Tom Jacobs	Freelance	Creative
Matthias Andriessen	BBDO Belgium	Digital Developper
Nadia Tweepenninckx	BBDO Belgium	Graphic Designer

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

With this campaign, supermarket chain Lidl, perceived as a price discounter, found a unique territory in the Belgian supermarket landscape. With a humorist tone of voice, it successfully communicated the value of fresh, rather than engaging in another price war. It allowed the supermarket chain to increase its share among households with high income.

Background

The Belgian marketplace for supermarkets is a saturated and extremely competitive environment. - No growth (business fixed at 27,5 billion Euro for 5 years now) Many shops: 1 shop per 3.200 inhabitants. Compared to Holland: > 1 per 4000 New entrants like Jumbo & Albert Heijn. As a consequence, all retail chains are waging a price war. Not just traditional price fighters like Aldi and Lidl, but also market leader Colruyt, a domestic & family owned retail chain, with its tagline “Lowest prices” The Business objective (long term): - TO growth of 5% / year - 0,5% market share growth from 7,8% in 2015 to 12,5% in 2025.

Interpretation (30% of vote)

The barriers to growth: 1) Lidl is perceived as a hard discounter and mainly attracts households with low income, ProFacts research shows. Knowing that Lidl’s penetration grade in that subsegment is around 80%, and that this low income segment is not keen on bigger ticket sizes, extra growth will not be found there. At the same time, Belgium counts twice as many households with high income than low income. 2) Low share of investment (below fair share) 3) Low physical availability: 300 Lidl shops vs 450 Aldi shops. How could we create growth within this high pressure, promo driven market?

Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

In a promo-driven market, we decided to start triggering households with high income. Personas for both segments were build during workshops and based on Global Web Index research. Using the Morris Matrix, we did a brand positioning exercise and decided to tap into the fundamental caring aspect of mothers. Playing on fresh food that is good for everyone in their household, using the tagline: “For everyone who counts.” How? By completely neglecting the traditional cues of the retail market. Adopting a consumer centric approach emphasising the value of fresh food in everyday life, instead of talking about price and product. - Using a humorist, irreverent tone of voice instead of rational communication. Doing so, we created a communication territory (consumer centric + conceptual) in which Lidl is unique. No competitor around.

Creative Idea (20% of vote)

We didn’t do what is expected of a hard discounter: communicating low prices. Instead, we communicated ludicrously high amounts in an outdoor campaign. With no explanation what so ever. As expected, it raised more than a few eyebrows. After one week, we explained on radio, tv that these high amounts were not randomly chosen. Actually, Fresh foods has a lot of benefits that can be converted into financial gain. The tv ads featured a close shot of the product, with only the price patch evolving. We even launched a hotline to answer people’s questions and explain the value of fresh.

Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

The business impact of the campaign was huge. In a difficult, dealing market Lidl was the only retailer increasing it’s business during the weeks of and after the campaign. It grew by 7,6% where all other competitors lost. Market share (GfK) was growing with 3 percent points, which is 3 times as fast as the already steep growth of Lidl during the past years. Sales of fresh foods in Lidl is growing fast, and penetration and value share of households with high income is peaking. Campaign post tests are showing an increased interest in the brand (Top of Mind), and a growing “meaningfulness”, which are the main objectives of our brand building campaigns.