Sainsburys attributes success to strong marketing

Sainsburys says strong marketing helped boost profit by 11% last year and that its resilient brand means it is well positioned to continue to progress despite the economic downturn.

Sainsbury’s says “strong” marketing helped boost profit by 11% last year and that its “resilient” brand means it is well positioned to continue to progress despite the economic downturn.

The supermarket says underlying pre-tax profit rose to £543m in the year to March 31 on total sales of £20bn, up 5.7% on last year.

The firm says its “Basics” budget range was the fastest selling sub-brand over the year with final quarter sales up 60% year on year.

It adds “strong marketing campaigns”, including the Jamie Oliver-fronted “Feed your family for a fiver” ads, have helped to show customers that the supermarket “understands the challenges they are facing and solutions to help them”.

Justin King, chief executive of J Sainsbury, says its performance improved as a result of the “strength of the Sainsbury’s brand”.

“Sainsbury’s is a long-established company and celebrates its 140th anniversary this month. It has a heritage of offering customers great products at fair prices, through a variety of economic trading periods, and we have developed our offer to compete and grow in what has been a very challenging period for the UK retail industry.”

Last week, the retailer launched its 140th birthday campaign with an Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO advertisement that shows viewers through its history.

The retailer also says it is accelerate plans to grow its “Local” convenience chain, with 50 new stores planned in the present financial year and 100 in the next.

Sainsbury’s “robust” full-year results mirror those of market leader Tesco, which last months reported profit increased 10% last year to a record £3.1bn.

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