Sainsbury's backs 'try something new today' with £10m drive starring Jamie Oliver

By by Jennifer Whitehead, brandrepublic.com, Monday, 19 September 2005 11:40AM

LONDON - A gorilla wandering around a supermarket and Jamie Oliver urging people to sprinkle nutmeg on their spaghetti bolognese are part of a £10m push by Sainsbury's to lure shoppers back into its stores.

The two feature as part of the launch of the "Try something new today" campaign, created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO after it was reappointed to the account in April.

The "Making life taste better" strapline has been dropped after six years, with the new slogan designed to give shoppers "inspiration". Part of that inspiration will include ideas from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, such as the nutmeg on spaghetti trick, as well as tossing carrots in thyme.

The first ad, which will appear in a solus adbreak at 10.45pm on ITV this evening, begins with the proposition that most of us are asleep half the time, especially when doing our supermarket shopping.

In the ad, Oliver asks: "There's a million meals to choose from so why eat the same ones over and over again?"

Later in the spot, he exclaims "be adventurous" as he swings off a rope into a river, fully clothed. The ad features the inspiring sounds of The Polyphonic Spree.

Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 and since that time there have only been a handful of straplines, but all have continued the company's heritage founded on quality and value. Sainsbury's first advertised in the early 1900s with "Sainsbury's for quality; Sainsbury's for value".

"Good food costs less at Sainsbury's" appeared in 1959 and "Everyone's favourite ingredient" was one of Sainsbury's most popular campaigns in the 1990s, but was followed by the disastrous and short-lived "Value to shout about" featuring John Cleese. "Making life taste better" was introduced in 1999.

Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury's, said: "Now is the time to ask people to come into our stores and try some of the many new and improved products we have introduced in recent months, better customer service and availability and a much more competitive pricing position."

At the same time, Sainsbury's is rebranding across its entire network of 731 stores so that the new slogan will appear on everything from trolleys and lorries to till receipts. The ideas and tips promoted by Oliver in the advertising will also be tried out on all 153,000 Sainsbury's employees, and samples will be offered to customers.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com