Spinach

Retailer tries turning a negative into a positive



posted by Spinach Advertising - Monday, March 19, 2012

The Reject Shop and Spinach mentioned in today's Australian Financial Review:

Retailer tries turning a negative into a positive SUE MITCHELL If retailer Chris Bryce was launching a new business today he wouldn’t christen it The Reject Shop. The brand has been around since 1981, when founders Ron Hall and John Shuster started selling factory seconds and end-of-line stock from a single store in Melbourne’s South Yarra. The Reject Shop has since grown into a chain of 228 discount variety stores across Australia and no longer sells seconds, but the negative connotations conjured by the brand have persisted. “There remains a large percentage of the population that, while knowing our name, either doesn’t know what we sell or still thinks we sell seconds, rejects or cheap crap that doesn’t work,” Bryce lamented at the release of the retailer’s interim profit results last month. Bryce, who took the helm almost three years ago, says there are no plans to ditch The Reject Shop name. “It has long term potential, we just have to change the nature of the way people perceive us and our offer,” he told The Australian Financial Review last week. “The name itself has strong recognition or recall and has been built up over time, but in simple terms it probably wouldn’t be the name we would choose if we were starting the business today.” The Reject Shop is trying to turn around negative consumer perceptions of what it sells and what it stands for by augmenting its traditional catalogue advertising with a new television and radio campaign. The integrated campaign, which encourages consumers to reject cost and find a savvy way to shop, was created by Melbourne-based full service agency Spinach after a tender last year. “We were looking for people who had a concept to change the perception of us, using Reject in a positive manner rather than a natural negative connotation, and introducing the concept over time that it’s a savvy and smart way to shop,” says Bryce. “They came back with different ways of tackling the task.” The campaign was trialled in South Australia last year with encouraging results. Sales rose and market research showed that the campaign led to improved recall of the products that The Reject Shop sells and consumers had a higher propensity to shop at Reject stores. “It was a matter of asking a simple question: ‘would you shop at Reject Shop or not?’,” says Bryce. “There was more in the yes bucket towards end of the initial campaign than there was at the start.” The campaign has now been launched in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide, where television advertisements will run every two weeks. Bryce declines to reveal the cost of the campaign but says The Reject Shop will match its catalogue spending “dollar for dollar”. “We needed to find a forum to showcase what we are and what we stand for, and TV with radio support was the quickest way to hit the target market,” he says. “We’re not expecting an immediate sales burst. It’s really about putting ourselves out there for people to understand what we do, and if they understand what we do, they’ll come and shop with us.” Reject is also communicating with customers through social media, even though it currently has a limited digital presence and lacks an e-commerce site. The average transaction in Reject Shop stores is $11 and Bryce has yet to be convinced that the discount variety model will succeed online. “We’re looking at where our strengths lie and where opportunities may present as we go forward, but it’s not a priority,” he says The Australian Financial Review  

Read the entire article here

Permalink

Part 3: Digital reality check: How agencies should really work with clients on digital initiatives



posted by Spinach Advertising - Thursday, March 15, 2012

social media ROI  

Read the entire article here

Permalink

Part 2: Digital reality check: How agencies should really work with clients on digital initiatives



posted by Spinach Advertising - Wednesday, March 14, 2012

 

Read the entire article here

Permalink

Part 1: Digital reality check: How agencies should really work with clients on digital initiatives



posted by Spinach Advertising - Tuesday, March 13, 2012

  

Read the entire article here

Permalink