1. With well over 400 stores, Poundland wanted to capitalise on its high street
presence. It wanted to become an essential location for everyone’s weekly shop.
It wanted to own the hearts and minds of the nation’s shoppers.
Poundland was seen by many as an occasional and/or seasonal shopping
destination. We knew this challenge was all about making key audiences aware
of its broader range of branded groceries and household goods. In doing so
we could put Poundland firmly in the same playing field as ‘the big four’
supermarkets.
We devised a ‘Weekly Essentials ’ campaign that challenged shoppers to find
out just how much they could save on their usual weekly shop with
Poundland. The campaign was leveraged via a mix of social media and
traditional PR. A Netmums partnership and outreach to key mummy bloggers
was blended with a research-led news release supported by a proactive media
relations drive to key national, online and women’s titles.
The campaign delivered 30 pieces of branded coverage across the personal
finance and consumer affairs pages. These included a double page spread in
the Daily Mirror that compared Poundland’s branded ranges favourably to
those of the major supermarkets. Over 250 mums shared their Poundland
money-saving experiences on the influential Netmums forum. A series of
competitions in key national women’s titles to win a weekly shop for a year,
supported the outreach. There was a tangible shift in consumer perception of
the brand. As a result of the activity, year-on-year sales increased by 56% in the
grocery category, 26% in health & beauty, and 20% in household.
Pink: The fact that BOTTLE bought a double page spread out of a popular
national tabloid paper shows that they are getting their work out there and
recognized, even if it isn’t in the typical form of advertising. Anything that gets
your company or work or product recognized and promoted is classed as
advertising. Buying out a double page spread of this certain newspaper shows
that the company is serious about what they are doing and means to achieve
their aim. It also is being shown to the target audience of Pounland. An advert for
Poundland would not be shown in a Broadsheet paper such as the guardian. The
promotion showed the comparison between Poundland’s own range and the
range of a major super market. Doing this shows to the people reading the
promotion that BOTTLE is confident that Poundland’s prices are the lowest
because it there was a price that was higher than the major supermarket’s in the
advert, it would immediately put people off. Comparisons are becoming a
popular and effective form of advert because nowadays, people like to save as
much money as possible and by showing them that Poundland is the cheapest,
they are most likely to go there.
Red: The whole challenge of this transformation was to make Poundland’s key
audiences aware of the broader range of branded groceries and other household
goods so that people were more likely to shop there. By promoting their broader
range of essentials people would be more intrigued to go as it suggests they can
get everything that they need under one roof and at good prices too. Included in
the campaign were 30 pieces of branded coverage across different sections of a
newspaper such as the personal, finance and consumer affairs pages. This way,

2. by the time the person had finished reading the paper, Poundland’s products
would be well stuck into the person’s mind. Also, it was good to use a range of
pages so that they hand more chance of being seen in the first place since
someone who reads the finance page may not read the personal page. After all
this brand promoting, figures were taken and there was a substantial increase in
consumer perception of the brands Poundland sold, meaning that all the
promoting had worked and BOTTLE had achieved their goal of making
Poundland become a better recognized supermarket.
Teal: By challenging people to try Poundland to see how much they could save,
sends a message out that Poundland is the best place to save money and that
they are confident and willing to show that. It is sending a message that shopping
at Poundland is just like going to a major supermarket such as Tesco or Asda
only it’s cheaper. If the challenge is successful then people will spread the
message to friends and family. During the transformation, BOTTLE reached out
to a blogger site called Netmums (a place where Mums exchange tips with other
Mums to help make things such as shopping easier for them) and challenged
them to try Poundland to save money, resulting in over 250 Mums sharing their
money saving experiences at Poundland.