Morrisons is kicking off its Christmas marketing campaign on Friday with a 60-second ad - and has unveiled plans to make availability a key part of its festive strategy.
The ad, which will first screen during Coronation Street on ITV1, features Ant & Dec bedecked in the retailer’s Nutmeg Christmas Jumpers, alongside of a cast of Morrisons staff and customers acting out festive scenes and singing lines from the festive classic ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas’.
Going forward, the retailer will run two 30-second edits of the ad each with a 10-second burst bolted onto the end highlighting special offers on Christmas food and drink – such as two packs of mince pies for £2.
“As our customers start to think about Christmas, they want to know it’s going to be magical and special for their families and we want to help make it special for them,” said Morrisons group marketing and customer director Nick Collard. “We are really proud of our in-store experts that help make Morrisons distinct and we know our customers appreciate the great value we offer them on fresh food and famous brands, especially as Christmas approaches.”
Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips said the retailer was looking to make it as easy as possible to meet Christmas shopping needs at Morrisons this year. Key to this, he said, was improving availability and reducing the need for shoppers to split their basket.
To address this, Morrisons has trained 1,800 ‘availability champions’ across 300 stores to monitor and fill gaps as and when they appear, as well as looking at the root of the issue to prevent gaps in the first place. The initiative, originally tabled to improve stock levels at the busiest time of the year, will remain in place post-Christmas, said Philips.
Philips added he was optimistic Morrisons would enjoy a better Christmas than last year. He said improved availability and the recent launch of the Match & More price matching/loyalty card meant Morrisons shoppers would have no need to split their basket this year.
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