NEWS: AMV focuses on real people for Sainsbury card push

Sainsbury’s has gone on the counter-offensive against its arch-rival,

Tesco, with national TV and poster advertising to launch its long-

awaited loyalty card.

In what is being hailed as the start of the biggest store war since the

days of Green Shield stamps, the campaign demonstrates Sainsbury’s new

strategy of focusing on real people rather than celebrities.

Produced by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the two 30-second commercials for

the Reward Card are intended to repair some of the damage inflicted on

Sainsbury’s sales by Tesco’s Clubcard.

The Reward Card offers vouchers on points collected through shopping at

Sainsbury’s. The vouchers can be spent at Sainsbury’s, Homebase or Texas

stores or swapped for Air Miles points.

Peter Souter, the agency’s deputy creative director, and his art

director, Paul Brazier, produced the films which feature consumers of

varying profiles and ages. They were directed by John O’Driscoll through

Paul Weiland Films.

In one film, a young couple offer contrasting views about how they will

spend their vouchers. The wife dreams of the South of France while her

husband confesses he has blown the vouchers on a bottle of chardonnay.

Kevin McCarten, Sainsbury’s marketing director, said: ‘This is gentle

humour and the way real people speak and think.’

This article was first published on Campaign