Netto hires UK marketing director to lead on UK launch

Sainsbury’s marketer Tom Hampson is moving over to Netto to take up a position as UK marketing director to help with the launch of the two supermarket’s discount store tie-up. 

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Hampson joins Netto after eight years working at Sainsbury’s, most recently as head of its new business marketing where he worked on the launch of Netto and Mobile by Sainsbury’s. Previous roles include head of brand planning and head of national advertising, including co-ordinating Sainsbury’s “Feed your family for £50”, Brand Match and “Live Well for Less” campaigns.

Prior to Sainsbury’s he spent six years working at marketing insight and strategy consultancies including Added Value.

Sainsbury’s announced last week (20 June) that it was making a move into the discount grocery market through a joint venture that will bring the Netto brand back to the UK after a four-year hiatus. Initially, the deal will see 15 Netto stores opened in the UK by the end of 2015, with the first launching in the North of England in the autumn.

The Netto brand will focus on everyday low prices, eschewing multibuys and promotions for “transparent pricing”. There will also ben an emphasis on fresh product, including a range of in-store bakeries, as well as Netto’s Danish roots.

Chris Longbottom, a retail director at Kantar Worldpanel, says the new focus marks a shift for Netto, which was typically seen as being “a bit downmarket”. This time round it hopes to be a more “aspirational” retailer by trading on one of its points of differentiation, its Danish roots.

However, he cautions that Sainsbury’s and Netto will face a difficult job in raising awareness, particularly with only 15 shops. Key, Longbottom believes, will be local advertising rather than a national marketing push.

“[The Netto brand] is not known much anymore. It effectively stopped operating here in 2010 and while some people might be familiar with the operation going back five years it will have disappeared off the radar for most shoppers.

“It will be difficult with just 15 stores and the fact that the Netto brand has some baggage with it,” he adds.

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