‘That’s why we go to Iceland’: Iceland tweaks long-running brand slogan
‘That’s why mums go to Iceland’ has been a long-running slogan for the retailer, but it has been tweaked to reflect “all aspects” of its consumer base, its chairman says.
Iceland has updated its brand slogan ‘That’s why mums go to Iceland’ to ‘That’s why we go to Iceland’ in a new campaign, something that its executive chair says is in recognition of its broadening customer base.
That’s why mums go to Iceland has been a long-running tagline for the supermarket. A form of the slogan was used as far back as 1988 with an ad containing the line ‘That’s why mum’s gone to Iceland’.
The end line has been used by the retailer in many ads since, notably those featuring former brand spokesperson Kerry Katona in the noughties.
The decision to update the slogan to make it more inclusive of men and people without children comes as the brand looks to capture its diverse customer group, says chairman Richard Walker.
“Iceland’s always been number one with mums and our new campaign celebrates our growing customer base, from across all aspects of the great British public,” Walker says.
TV host and mum of one, Josie Gibson, is the new face of the brand and stars in the campaign. It features her shopping in-store and highlights the price of many products. For example, it showcases its £1 value offering and any 10 for £10 deal.
As Iceland shows, aspiration should be open to all
“All these bargains in just one shop,” Gibson says in the ad. “That’s why we go to Iceland.”
Writing last year, Marketing Week columnist and Passionbrand founder Helen Edwards praised Iceland for its understanding of its consumers as a value retailer.
“At the most fundamental level, the brand is aggressive on pricing,” she said. “It has frozen the price of hundreds of products to £1 – a totemic move by a team that knows that one of the brand’s natural competitors is the local food bank.”
With a focus on price in its new ad, Iceland continues on that trajectory of highlighting its value first and foremost.
According to the brand, this new campaign marks a “significant investment in advertising” for the business, which has recently primarily focused on seasonal events and offers. The campaign will run for a year.
In its accounts for the year ended March 2023, Iceland had indicated that it “substantially reduced” its marketing expenditure and will focus “single-mindedly” on promoting the “great value” it offers.
Indeed last year, Walker posted on social media that the brand would not be doing a Christmas ad.
“Rather than spend millions creating and sharing a TV ad, we chose to invest the money supporting our customers during the cost of living crisis,” he wrote on X.
