Comet to blitz cookers in consumer magazines

Comet is to advertise its range of cookers in consumer magazines on a trial basis, in an effort to target women.

The use of consumer magazines is a departure for the electrical retailer, which usually uses regional and national newspapers and television. The only sector in which it uses consumer magazines is technology – it places ads for PCs in magazines such as Computeractive.

The cooker ads will appear in national newspaper magazine supplements and monthlies such as Ideal Home, House Beautiful and House & Garden.

Comet marketing and advertising manager Amy Cox says: “When we looked at our customer base, and who buys cookers, we found that those people’s media consumption was more magazine-oriented.”

She adds that buying a cooker is a considered decision, and one which tends to be taken while planning a refurbishment of the kitchen.

Electrical retailers are also facing competition in the cooker market from fitted-kitchen retailers such as Ikea, which have also started to sell cookers.

If the trial proves successful, the retailer may consider further campaigns targeted at particular demographic groups, but this move is unlikely to herald a wholesale departure from its mass-market approach.

Comet’s holding company, Kingfisher, plans to demerge its electrical retail business and concentrate on the DIY sector, having recently taken control of French chain Castorama. The company plans to float its electricals arm, including Comet, on the Paris stock exchange next year, although a trade sale may prove more attractive given the volatile stock market.