A prime time national TV advertising campaign for Spar will break next month, resurrecting the So near, so Spar' slogan. The symbol group's guilds and wholesalers have agreed a £2m budget for a two week campaign in June, a week before Christmas and two weeks next February. The adverts will be shown at peak viewing times on ITV during programmes such as Coronation Street or Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, as well as on channels 4 and 5 and on satellite TV. The initiative marks a move away from the regional approach adopted in recent years, in which local TV ads have been used in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Marketing director Susan Darbyshire said Spar's regional guilds had agreed this year's marketing budget should go on a national campaign but there will still be limited local promotions using media such as local radio. Spar has also launched a web site, www.spar.co.uk, which will provide a consumer site and a password protected intranet for Spar members. One of its prime purposes will be to attract new members to the group. Senior marketing manager Joanne Morley revealed that in the first week after it went live, and before it had even been fully rolled out to members or received any promotion, it had already generated 30 enquiries from retailers interested in joining. The intranet will allow Spar to communicate with its members, giving them details of promotions, development of Spar brand products, and will be used to encourage retailers to convert to the group's Millennium Store format. Morley said about 2,000 of the group's 2,700 members already had internet access, and the rest would be offered a special start-up package. Spar brand manager Anna Flash said a national Spar brand produce range would be rolled out, area by area, later in the year as part of the group's emphasis on fresh goods. {{NEWS }}

Topics