Facebook, Asda, Costa: 5 things that mattered this week and why

Catch up on all this week’s major marketing news including Facebook’s privacy campaign, Costa Coffee’s move onto the Piccadilly Circus ad space and Asda’s tie-up with Downton Abbey.

By Marketing Week Reporters 30 Aug 2019 12:43 pm

Facebook tries to repair trust with privacy campaign

Facebook has launched a privacy campaign, the latest step in its bid to improve transparency and rebuild trust following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The ‘Privacy is Personal’ campaign is designed to raise awareness of the privacy features the social media giant offers, including ad preferences, by highlighting how each individual user has their own ‘privacy settings’ and preferences depending on their environment.

Alarmingly, only half of the 2,000 Facebook users surveyed know how to control who sees their photos on the platform and 22% don’t know how to customise their privacy settings on any social media platform.

This suggest Facebook has a long way to go in educating users and repairing trust despite claiming that there’s “no better way” to reach its own users than through its own platform.

But whether users can get passed the irony of the cause will determine whether the company is wasting its time trying to rebuild something that is irreversible. EL

Asda wants to shift the conversation from price with Downtown Abbey tie-up

What do Asda and Downtown Abbey have in common? Not a lot, but that’s what makes the supermarket’s latest campaign distinctive.

The 30-second spot is set in Downtown Abbey’s kitchen, where actress Lesley Nicol’s character Mrs Patmore is organising a feast for a visit from the Royals. The ad then skips through time to the present day where the narrator suggests: “With thousands of rollbacks, you don’t need to pay a king’s ransom.”

The campaign highlights Asda’s ambition to offer low-cost food without compromising on quality.

It’s certainly different to anything Asda has run before, and is a definite contrast to its Christmas campaign. This indicates its shift in strategy and the supermarket’s desire to move on from just talking about price.

The figures indicate that this is working too. YouGov’s BrandIndex shows consumer perception of Asda’s quality has been on an upward trajectory over the last four years, but it’s still being hugely outperformed by most major UK supermarkets.

So shifting to talk about quality is one thing, but actually changing perceptions in order to truly challenge rivals is another. EL

Costa Coffee ramps up marketing plans

Ever since 1954, Coca-Cola has been synonymous with the Piccadilly Circus ad space. But, for the first time in 65 years, the fizzy drink won’t be appearing on advertising at the iconic location.

Instead it is giving the ad space to Costa Cofee’s new ready-to-drink range for three days. The ad is the first stage of a campaign that will include digital, PR and sampling activity, as well as a pop-up store in east London.

Costa is also opening its first ‘commuter-focused’ concept store in Lewisham, London. It will see the company reformat part of the station to become one of eight new mini-format stores that will be opening over the next six months across London’s busiest stations.

The new stores will be focused on delivering a quick and efficient service to commuters. All the stores are takeaway only with some of the stores offering self-service ordering screens for those not wishing to queue to order. Consumers can also use Costa Coffee’s mobile ordering service, which is available through the free Costa Coffee club app.

All this contribute’s to a growing picture of how Costa is operating since it was bought by Coca-Cola last August. It’s new ready-to-drink range and concept stores highlight quick innovation and strategic marketing while the Piccadilly ad space is significant as it shows Coke’s willingness to prioritise the brand. There is no doubt this is the beginning of Costa’s revamp so keep a close eye on what is to come. MF

Sport England puts focus on getting people with health conditions to get active

Sport England had huge success with its campaign to get women taking more exercise, ‘This Girl Can’ managing to not only win creative awards but also elicit behaviour change. Now the government body is hoping to do the same for people with health conditions.

The ‘We are undefeatable’ campaign is once again based on clear insight: that people living with long-term health conditions are twice as likely to be inactive despite evidence that doing exercise can help manage conditions and reduce the impact of some symptoms. And the creative, from FCB Inferno, manages not to take a preachy tone, simply showing how people with conditions ranging from diabetes to cancer and arthritis can get active.

As with This Girl Can, Sport England is looking to change cultural norms around exercise to show not only is it for the super fit and healthy, but everybody. Its message will be pushed by the 15 health and social care charities it is working with, including Versus Arthritis, Macmillan Cancer Support and Age UK.

Any campaign that can improve life for those with long-running conditions is to be welcomed. Here’s hoping this is as successful as ‘This Girl Can’. SV

GoCompare tones down Gio Compario as part of brand overhaul

GoCompare, like the rest of the price comparison industry, faced a challenge. As the sector matures, growth is slowing and using advertising to be the brand shouting loudest is no longer working.

A marketing overhaul was needed, but what to do about Gio Compario? There’s no doubt the character has made GoCompare the well-recognised brand it is today. But he’s also annoying as hell. In focus groups, people called him “irritating” but also baulked at any ads that didn’t have him in.

The answer? Keep Gio but tone him down. In particular, the GoCompare ditty needed to go in favour of something with a bit more subtlety.

What CMO Zoe Harris and new agency Droga5 have hit on is a way to keep the awareness Gio brings while also improving the brand’s salience. That forces the viewer to see both Gio and GoCompare in a slightly different light.

“We are looking to maintain our brand character and top of mind performance while adding some depth and expertise to what we want to be known for,” Harris tells Marketing Week.

Job done. SV