Sainsbury’s pushes own-label goods

Sainsbury’s is launching an ad campaign today (September 5) encouraging people to buy the supermarket’s 15,000 own-brand products. The move follows its own research that shows that sales of own-label is growing twice as fast as branded products.

The new campaign called “Switch & Save” will try to persuade shoppers to trial more of its own-brand goods, which it says will help slash 20% off food bills. It adds that estimates show that switching half the average weekly shop to Sainsbury’s own-brand could save a family of four £452 per year.

The ad campaign has been created by Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO.

The research shows that less than a quarter of all consumers now believe that the brands we choose reflect on us as a person. The vast majority would not judge someone negatively if they saw a cupboard full of own-brand goods, consigning brand snobbery to the dustbin.

Roughly one third, 35%, of all shoppers believe that top brands will need to improve quality dramatically to battle supermarket own-brand goods, while another 35% think that leading brands represent a pointless added expense.

Just 1.5% of consumers say they would be very embarrassed to buy own-brand goods. Men are twice as likely to feel this way compared to women, and the figure peaks in Scotland 4% and Bristol 6%.

Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s brand, says: “The results of this survey clearly show how consumer perceptions of supermarket own-brand have shifted. We created the first ever own-brand product over 125 years ago and we have never compromised on quality, in fact this survey of over 1,000 people showed Sainsbury’s own-brand goods were more trusted than any of the big four supermarkets.”

According to TNS, the average family of four’s grocery bill was £87 per week over the last year. About 50% of the average basket of purchases made at Sainsbury’s are own-brand, which means £43.50 of the weekly bill is made up of branded goods. Based on the fact that Sainsbury’s own-brand products are on average 20% cheaper than the branded equivalent, the average family could save £8.70 per week or £452.40 per year by switching into own-brand.