Recruitment marketing / SPAR

A tale of retail attraction

The beginning
Unlike the large supermarkets of this world, SPAR is a network of independent retailers whose members remain independent. In return for a monthly fee, they enjoy access to collective buying and marketing power, along with a range of additional services designed to help them develop their business. Growth depends on attracting new retailers to the network. Before approaching us, SPAR’s advertising would list every single aspect of the SPAR offer in the hope that some of it would stick. They asked us to help them formulate a more targeted and coherent approach.

The middle
Our first job was to find out what made retailers join the SPAR network and, just as importantly, what put them off. This involved carrying out an extensive range of internal and external research. We discovered that there were five things that made SPAR an appealing proposition: the wholesale service, the staff training programmes, the marketing materials, the support for store development and, perhaps most importantly, the assistance of a dedicated business adviser.

We also found out that a real concern for independent retailers was independence itself. They wanted reassurance that this would be a real business partnership.

The end
Our creative team developed the You’re not alone campaign, a sentiment that tied in neatly with the strapline There for you, the proposition which appears on all SPAR materials. Each ad uses a long headline to describe a tricky or exasperating situation that independent store owners regularly experience. The copy goes on to explain the specific SPAR service that can help alleviate the problem.

After making just four appearances in carefully chosen trade press, the campaign increased response rates by 30% on last year. Why did it work? Because our research told us exactly what we needed to say. And our creative team found an interesting and distinctive way of saying it.