Unit 21 Tesco Price Drop Analysis

1. AudioAdvertCampaignAnalysis
Tesco:Price Drop
The Tesco Price Drop advertisingcampaignaimstoinformitswide demographicof the reduced
pricesnowavailable acrossanextremelylarge range of products,coiningthe campaignstitle.By
marketingitinthisway RedBrick Road,the companybehindthe advert,place emphasisonthe low
pricesboastedbythe Tesco supermarket,promotingthe affordabilityof theirproducts. Therefore
the campaignsaimwas to give newcustomers incentive tovisitTescosupermarkets,aswell as
consolidate existingcustomersbyappeasingthem;givingthemmore of the low priceswhichthey
wantand are the reasontheyshopat Tesco. The Price Drop campaignitself wasfundedbya£500
millionpaycheque fromTesco,providingfinance forthe promotionitself aswell asthe investment
requiredforthe Price Drop.
The products advertisementdemographicspansfromC1 to E on the social demographicscale,from
lowermiddle classdownwardsasthe companyofferslow price foodandothernecessityitems
whichare available foraconsumerstopurchase. However,bypredominatelyfocusingonthe low
cost of the productsthe brand targetsthe lowerendof theirdemographic,withmosttarget
audience membersfittingintothe mainstream/conformistmaximof the 4Cspsychographicmap.
The demographicisn’tparticularlyage specificasthe productswill be purchasedbybothyoungand
olderadults,additionallythere isnospecifictargetgenderdue tothe broad nature of product users.
Withinthe Price Dropcampaignitself the productisrepresentedhumorouslyviacomedytoengage
listeners,viewersandreaders- dependingonwhichstrainof the interdependent promotionin
question.The RadioandTelevisionadvertisementsare verysimilarastheybothinclude aTesco’s
workerlistingreducedproductsinrapidsuccessionalongwithafemale voice over. Subsequentlythe
humourassociatedwiththe brand connotesTescoina verypositive light.However,additionally
there isan amountof sinceritylinkedwiththe factsbeinggiventothe audience giving themenough
logical reasontobuy fromthe company.
The campaignsUSP correlatestothe Tescobrand; verylow pricesondecentqualitygoods.
Therefore the campaignsmessage linkstothis, promotingthe brandbyreferringtothe ‘BigPrice
Drop’ implyingthatgoodswill be reducedona very grand scale. Furthermore the message ishow
lowthe pricesare andow little customerswill have tospendattheirsupermarkets. Subsequently
thislinks toaffordabilityandthe monetaryvalue of shoppingatTescowhich,if made,isa very
logical choice basedonthe individualsfinances.
The campaignutilisesathree waydistributional methodof advertisingwith correspondingRadio,
Television andPrintbasedmediaadverts. All three advertsfocusonthe low-pricesof Tesco,this
interdependence presentacrossthe three platformsprovidesaneffective agendaanddeliversthe
message more successfullythananindividual,singleadvertwould. The radioandtelevisionadverts
are verysimilar,withthe formerusingthe audiofromthe latter,howeverthisisunlikelytoeffect
the impact of the campaign as the differentchannelsof distributionare usedinordertocapture a
largeraudience- withsome membersnotwatchingTelevisionandothers notlisteningtoRadio. The
printbasedadvertisementsharesthe same taglineandmessage,yetdoesn’tinclude the comic-
listingof reducedproductsonoffer. Therefore there issynergy,tosome extent,acrossthe
advertisingboard.

2. PrintBasedAdvert
The print basedadvertwouldbe placedonbillboardstoreacha large,non-specificaudience,aswell
as inmore targeted(food/lifestyle) magazineswhichmaybringinslightlymore sophisticated/higher
classconsumerswhoare more likelytoconsume written mediathanTelevised. Therefore the advert
bringsina slightlyalternative demographicinadditiontothe massaudiencesreachedbythe other
channelsof promotion. Thisadvertdiffersfromthe othersinits content,optingfora textbased
image alongwitha long,receipt-esque metaphorical listof all the productsreducedavailable at
Tesco. Thischange maybe due to campaignsrecurringjoke beingincompatible withaprintbased
advert,as itreliesheavily onaudiotomake sense. Thisadvertcouldalsoappearonline,placedasa
pop-uponvariousfoodrelatedwebsites,howeverthisisslightlylesslikelytobe the case due to the
campaigns2012 release date inadditiontothe factthat the video/audioadvertcouldbe used
instead. The advertlinkstothe remainderof the campaignbyincludingthe strapline/slogannoun
phrase “The BigPrice Drop”, whichsynergisesthe three adverts,drawingthemclosertogether. I
believethe campaignwassuccessful asitplaysonthe brandsexistingstrengths,promotingthe,now
reduced,lowpricesthatTescoispopular for. Furthermore the interdependence of the separate
advertsalsoincreasesitslikelihood of success,astheyall visitthe same gag,all three are likely tobe
more effective.
Audio-VisualAdvert(Television) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bye5xDl8-Dc
The videoadvertisementisthe mostaccessible of the trioasthe largestaudience woulddefinitely
come from Televisionpromotioncomparedtoradioorprintbasedmedia. Therefore thisadvert
bringsthe largest,mostmainstreamconsumerstothe campaign whichiswhyitincludeshumourto
become more popularamongthisdemographic. The advertwouldprobablybe televisedonalarge
array of channelsatpeaktimesthroughoutthe daydue to the financiallysound,conglomerate
abilityof Tesco. Additionallythe promotionwouldprobablyfollow eitheranadvertisingblitz –
showingthe videoas oftenaspossible across multiple channelsall the time- oralternativelya
specificallytailoredlistof timeswhere the Tescodemographicwouldbe most likelytobe watching.
Thisadvertdiffersfromthe othertwointhat it combinesbothvisual andaudiostimulus,which
make the humourmore easilyaccessible andunderstandable aswell ashighlightingthe sincere
message atthe core of the advertisement:Tesconow hasevenlowerreducedpriceson‘hundreds’
of products. Additionallythe Televisionplatformwouldhave shownseveral slightlycontrasting
iterationsof the advert. Thismaypreventthe promotionfrombecomingstale andboring(asquickly)
inadditiontoreinforcingthe message withinaudiencememberssubconscious. The videoadvert
linkscloselytothe radiopromotioninthattheyshare the same/extremelysimilaraudio.Therefore it
wouldalsobe instantlyrecognisableacrossthe mediaplatforms,makingitamuch more memorable

3. campaign. Subsequently Ibelieve thatthisadvertalsocontributestothe successof the campaign
and isreasonablyeffectiveasitutilisesthe synergyconstructedacrossthe channelsof distribution.
AudioAdvert(Radio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLvBRCyNHJs
The radio advertisementbringsanotherslightlyalternative demographicintothe Tescoaudience,
thisismainlydue to the differentchannel of advertisement.Itmaybe that slightlymore
sophisticated/workorientedconsumerslistentothe radiocomparedtotelevisionasmanypeople
listenonthe commute toand fromwork.Furthermore,anotheraimof the radioadvertisementwill
be to solidifythe campaignsmessage withincustomersthathave alreadywatched/seenthe videoor
printadvert.Thisis whyinterdependencecanincrease the effectivenessof advertisingcampaigns,as
whenpromotionsare instantlyrecognisable acrossplatforms,the brandandmessage isinstilledto
an evenmore successful extentwithinthe demographic.The radioadvertisreasonablysimilarto
the videoadvertinthat theyshare the same audio/concept,howeverthe printbasedadvert
includessimilarhumour,yetnotpreciselythe same gagprobablydue tothe differentlimitationsof
bothplatforms.The radioadvertcontributestothe overall successof the campaignbycomplyingto
the sharedjoke/message,synergisingthe three promotions.
RegulatoryBodies
ASA (AdvertisingStandardsAuthority)–founded1962
A UK self-regulatoryorganisationwithinthe UnitedKingdomadvertisingsector.The body,however,
isnon statutoryand socannot enforce law or legislature. Although,itsinterpretationof said
legislaturereflectsthatof the lawand so isveryreliable ininvestigatingcomplaintsmade aboutads
and othermarketingstrains. The organisationisnotfundedbythe governmentbutbya levyonthe
industry,andsoany advertisements thatdon’tconform tothe ASA standardswill helpfinance the
body.
The primarylegislature focusedonadvertisingisthe UKCode of Broadcasting Advertising(BCAP
Code) whichappliestoall promotionsirrespective of theirplatform. The ASA enforcesthiscode who
can thentake furtherstepsto remove oramendnon-compliantadvertisements.
The BCAP Code encapsulatesmaterial thatmaybe exposedtochildrenmustnotcause distressor
frightenthem,condone inappropriate ordangerousbehaviour orencourage childrentobuy
productsthemselves.
OFCOM(The Office of Communications)- founded2003
The governmentapprovedbodyof regulationforthe broadcasting,telecommunicationsandpostal
industryof the UK. The organisationhaslegal poweranddutytorepresentthe bestinterestsof the
UK citizensbypromotingcompetitionandcensoringharmfuloroffensive media. The mainareas
Ofcompresidesoverare licensing,research,codesandpolicies,complaintsandprotectingradio-
abuse (e.g. pirate radiostations).
BBFC (BritishBoardof FilmClassification)–founded1912
Whilstthe BBFC isn’tpredominatelyfocusedonthe advertisingindustry, howeverinthe pastthere
was stricterlegislationregardingcinema-advertising,yetfrom2016 it now delegatestothe CAA in
thisinstance. Althoughthe BBFCalsohave toager-certifyanyadvertisementstobe released
publically. Therefore anyadvertsbeingproducedhave tocomplyandtravel throughthe BBFC
machineryinorderto be released.