It's been described as "Waitrose with value." Marc Bolland prefers to think of it as a "food specialist for everyone". So, after a six month-long review of Morrisons, what are we to make of the new CEO's vision?

It was clearly an opportunity for Bolland to draw a line under the sand following the integration of Safeway. As he announced pre-tax profits up to £369m (following a £313m loss last time round), and sales up 5.2%, Bolland acknowledged that the time was now right to address some of the key issues that Morrisons faces, moving forward, with non-food, online, organics, own-label and IT all thought to be problem areas.

Under the new plan, Morrisons will invest an additional £450m, over three years, on everything from store improvements (£180m) to IT (££110m) to distribution (£90m). Bolland expects this to increase annual profits by £200m by 2010.

The main focus of Bolland's strategy is ironic, however. While addressing the need to sort out the creaking kit (see boxout, right), the Dutchman played down the importance of non-food and online especially, as he bigged up the supermarket's foodie values.

"People see Waitrose as a food specialist, yet we have better credentials," said Bolland, as he explained his vision of Morrisons. But isn't every supermarket a "food specialist for everyone"? "No, that's not the case," Bolland told The Grocer. "If you take Asda, it's more known for its George brand. When people talk of Tesco, it's everything. Waitrose, it's exclusively food but on a higher price basis. We want to highlight that we're not going to be big in clothing or sell sofas. We want to focus on the stuff we know."

While outlining plans to improve the organic offer, improve the nutrition of the own-label range and, in non-food, to focus on health and beauty and home only, the emphasis on the supermarket's fresh food credentials is "not a new positioning. We're simply sharpening it up," Bolland adds.

Behind the scenes at its supermarkets, Morrisons prepares 1,700 lines in-store, more than double that of its rivals, according to Bolland's estimates, and he wants to stop hiding and start shouting about this Morrisons USP.

And it's not just preparation. Bolland believes the own-label packaging must reflect its values. "When you look at what we do, there is a good story. All the supermarkets talk about being close to farmers. We buy all our own livestock. And 100% of our British meat is from farm-assured sources."

This refocusing has gone down well, according to Bolland. "The share price went up further last week. The consensus was that Morrisons has a clear direction."

Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner is certainly approving. "Bolland's vision is of an evolution and I think he's got that right. Bolland is a good man and realises he will have to spend money."

But others are less convinced. "In a subtle way, Bolland is saying Morrisons is not in a position to be a broad-based retailer with e-commerce and non-food," says Shore Capital retail analyst Clive Black. "He's working with the cards he has rather than the hand he wants. There are fundamental deficiencies in the ranges compared with its fast-moving competitors and he has shown the weaknesses are perhaps greater than we first thought.

"And it goes beyond the offer. Bolland has said IT is not satisfactory and distribution poorly configured. He is playing catch-up."

As for online, Bolland doesn't intend to look at this for another 18 months. "I want to further investigate its profitability," he told the City. But Black believes it will have "missed the boat" by then.

"In two years' time, Morrisons will need to invest a huge amount of money in marketing to persuade customers to shop online with them rather than Tesco or Sainsbury's."

More imminent will be a new logo, to be announced next month and a replacement for the 30-year-old 'More reasons to shop at Morri­sons' slogan. Neil Francis, creative director at marketing agency SFW, believes Morrisons has its work cut out to change people's perceptions.

"It will need a large initial advertising campaign and really stick at it. When I was a lad, Tesco was the cheap and cheerful supermarket, and look how long it took it to get to where it is today."

But Bolland says the advertising budget increase will be modest. "It's about being more effective. People that know us appreciate us a lot. People that don't know us think we're only focused on value. We need to be more approachable in our communication and in-store. And we've already started."n

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