2024, still in the era of advertising
In advertising today, some brands opt for highly commercial advertising, with a hammering of the message and slogan, a direct approach with no real storytelling. Others, on the other hand, like Intermarché, rely on emotional communication with real storytelling, seeking to create a lasting bond with their audience that goes beyond simple conversion.
When you see the TV ads for Carglass, Verisure and Vendez votre voiture.fr, you can’t help but bristle with weariness.
The companies use the codes of advertising from the 90s, with a hammering of messages and their frequency.
This type of advertising is a far cry from what we’re used to seeing: TV spots that tell stories, convey emotions, use humor, drama, the absurd… In short, commercials with a minimum of storytelling.
Let’s take a look at the retail market.
Storytelling to tell sales arguments
Intermarché, for example, has been using storytelling to convey emotions in its campaigns for many years. We find the same approach at Aldi. With its brand strategy and platform focused on “the new consumer”, Aldi delivers two key messages that are purely pragmatic: low-cost, committed products. All of this is told in a world of fairy-tale identity codes.
A strategy that seems to have proved its worth in terms of memorability, since Aldi is in 7th place in the ranking of brands that the French talked about most with their friends and family in 2023 (YouGov study carried out with BrandIndex at the end of 2023).
Direct communication for memorization
E. Leclerc takes a completely different approach to its communications. With its advertising spots featuring clear, concise slogans such as “When you know who’s the cheapest, why go anywhere else?“. The YouGov study cited above also shows good performance: E.Leclerc is the brand with the strongest growth in terms of advertising recall in 2023. It is also one of the top 10 brands that the French talked about most with their friends and family in 2023.
So, what’s the winning strategy?
It can’t be said that purely commercial advertising has no identity. This positioning is a bias, and the hammering of the slogan is a form of identity affirmation.
So what’s the best recipe for engaging the public, and how do you choose? Storytelling, as Intermarché does so well, or straight to the point, as Leclerc does? It all depends on the brand’s objectives. Some seek to create a lasting bond with their audience, to anchor values in people’s minds by touching their hearts. Others rely on more direct approaches to engage audiences in resolving practical needs.
Leclerc, a brand with a strong commitment to fair and accessible consumption, opts for pragmatic TV slogans and advertising, highlighting fair prices and commitment. This approach aims to appeal to a consumer target particularly sensitive to purchasing power. Conversely, Intermarché relies more on emotional communication, highlighting its local roots and support for French producers through federative advertising stories.
These two approaches – emotional and pragmatic – correspond to different but complementary strategies for supermarket chains. They make it possible to reach a variety of targets, adapting to their respective expectations and consumer codes. The key lies in the coherence between the brand’s positioning and the tone of its communication, in order to sustainably engage its audiences.
