Sainsbury's eager to improve price image

It is clear that its price image can make or break a retailer. Britain’s third largest retailer Sainsbury’s has experienced that problem first hand – and therefore now launches a new slogan: “Live well for less”.  

A subtle approach to appeal to consumers

Sainsbury’s, well aware of their relatively unfavourable price image, specifies what it means in the first ads bearing the new slogan: “Helping you live well for less isn’t about saying that our food will always be cheaper than other supermarkets (we’ll never compromise on quality and are committed to bringing you products sourced responsibly), but it will cost less that you thought at Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s will never scream its value message in the way Asda and Tesco do, instead taking the more subtle approach to appeal to shoppers emotions.”

With this explanation – recognising that Sainsbury’s does not have the best of price images – the retail chain hopes to make sure that the subtle message reaches the customers – and hopes that those customers will understand it. Using its new slogan, Sainsbury’s wants to improve its price image without compensating in the quality department. “Live Well for Less aims to deliver products that meet customers’ needs for both quality and price, all for less than customers think”, as the retailer states in a press release.

Similar to Tesco and Asda?

Sainsbury’s “Live well for less” campaign is directly aimed to confront Tesco and Asda, but the question remains whether “Live well for less” is so different from the slogans used by those two. Tesco’s “Every little helps”, widely recognised as one of the best slogans in the world, is directly linked to the huge growth Tesco has experienced since the slogan was first used in the 1990s – an eternity compared to the six years an average Sainsbury’s slogan lasts.

Walmart’s Asda is more straightforward: “Saving your money every day” is the slogan they have been using since 2009. The same year the chain used “Good food costs less at Asda” for a temporary promotion – a direct copy of one of Sainsbury’s previous slogans and creating a minor controversy.

… or rather similar to Aldi?

“Live well for less” seems to be mostly like Aldi UK’s slogan, but exactly the opposite: cast into Aldi’s “Spend a little, live a lot” format, the Sainsbury’s slogan sounds like “Live a lot, spend a little”. It is exactly Aldi’s (and Lidl’s) success in the UK that led Sainsbury’s to revamp – together with (or fuelled by) the difficult economic climate in Britain. While the rebranding is specifically aimed at Tesco and Asda, the group knows for sure it will not harm to use the British discounters’ tricks as well.

Brand Match and own brand to help new slogan

To reinforce its message, Sainsbury’s also uses “Brand Match”: a programme now tested in Northern Ireland, that continuously compares prices at Sainsbury’s with those at Tesco and Asda. If Sainsbury’s is more expensive, customers receive the difference… in coupons they can spend at Sainsbury’s only, of course.

Along with the new slogan, the revamp of Sainsbury’s own brand “By Sainsbury’s” is instrumental in the retailer’s new direction. This initiative started at the end of last year and was officially announced this May. By improving the quality of its own brand, which serves as a less expensive alternative for A-brands, Sainsbury’s wants to improve its average price-quality ratio. The chain aims to have 6,500 products in its new label by 2013.