Facing the threat of a new competitor, New World launched a pre-emptive campaign for its Clubcard, using its own customer spending stats for inspiration.
In late 2023, Woolworths announced it was bringing its Australian loyalty programme, Everyday Rewards, to New Zealand in 2024. A massive shake-up in the loyalty landscape was coming.
New World needed to promote the benefits of its Clubcard, but customers were over the “maths and mechanics” of programmes – (“spend x get y, double points for this, save on that …”), and there wasn’t time to make changes.
So New World delved into Clubcard data, leaning in early to its new brand positioning, “Find your wonderful”, due to launch a few weeks later.
“Our Clubcard data held a wealth of true stories ready to be uncovered,” New World says. “Finding these stories and telling them in a warm and humorous manner would give Clubcard emotional scale along with providing a segue into the new brand.”
For ‘Clubcard Trolley Truths’, the supermarket delved into over 105 million purchases and found the facts behind our great food debates: chips or chocolate, broccoli or cauliflower?
“We all have our own slightly controversial food opinions and guilty pleasures,” New World says.
“With Clubcard being scanned by so many of us when we shop, we are well positioned to be an authority on these national food debates.”
The campaign ran across multiple channels including OOH, digital display and social, using humour and striking food imagery. For instance: “We’re smooth as – 68% of us chose smooth over crunchy peanut butter last year.”
Regional messages on billboards captured January holidaymakers. Aucklanders saw: “Move over Spaghetti Junction – 59% of us ate more baked beans than spaghetti last year.” And in the capital: “They don’t call it Windy Welly for nothing – We ate more baked beans than anywhere else last year.”
New World emailed Clubcard holders with personalised Trolley Truths, revealing how they stacked up against the nation.
The two-week campaign exceeded New World’s targets, with year-on-year increases in Clubcard scan rates and in value perceptions of Clubcard rewards. All without changes to the loyalty programme or incentives, just storytelling driven by data.
Judges’ comments
“Great strategy in response to a changing competitive environment. Loved the concept – harnessing the power of data to deliver a clever, humorous, creative response, driving social conversation at a personalised city level.”
This was first published in the 2024 September-October NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
