Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer have promoted the value of their heritage in their advertising in recent months - and both retailers have profited from the nostalgia-based approach.
The campaigns, which aim to reassure potential customers by emphasising the longevity of the brands, follow a number of similar anniversary ads from brands in other sectors, such as Virgin Atlantic's Still Red Hot After 25 Years and Persil's Tough but Gentle for 100 Years.
Sainsbury's is celebrating 140 years in business and the ad for the brand tracks significant landmarks in the company's history, including information such as the fact that the firm first employed women in 1914.
The M&S campaign demonstrates striking similarities - it highlights notable changes the company has introduced to benefit the consumer, such as use-by dates. In addition, both companies use the humble avocado pear in their campaigns, with Twiggy pointing out that M&S has been a trendsetter by introducing exotic foods, and Sainsbury's claiming it introduced the avocado in 1962.
BrandIndex shows that both campaigns created a comparable uplift in the buzz scores for the brands.
On 21 April, the buzz scores for M&S and Sainsbury's were +17 and +16 respectively, and by 29 May, both brands' buzz scores had risen by four points, to +21 and +20 respectively.
When the Sainsbury's campaign first aired on 6 May, its buzz score was +15. However, after the ad, its buzz scores peaked at +21 on 18 May.
By comparison, the ad for M&S first aired on 18 May, when the buzz score for the brand was +16. Like Sainsbury's, M&S's scores peaked at +21, on 26 May.
The uplift in scores achieved by both brands following the launch of their new campaigns shows consumers responded positively to the ads.
As has been demonstrated by a number of campaigns this year, consumer trust in a brand due to its heritage appears to be not only a popular choice for advertisers, but also a successful one.
METHODOLOGY: YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors. It is measured on a seven-point profile:
1. Buzz
2. General impression
3. Quality
4. Value
5. Satisfaction
6. Recommend
7. Corporate reputation.
In addition, we supply an index score.
www.brandindex.co.uk
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