Fresh Inspiration – The Pick ‘n Pay Brand Revamp
Lesson:
Customers are increasingly making brand choices based on a complex scorecard that reflect their personal needs, values, ethics and aspirations. After four decades, the Pick ‘n Pay brand, (now Pick n Pay or PnP) has evolved. Using logos such as Shell, Coca-Cola and Mercedes as a benchmark, the transformation of PnP’s brandmark was undertaken with incessant research in order to contemporize its appeal and provoke positive change. “The brand’s entire identity, including aspects such as font, graphic devices and its colour palette, underwent rigorous exploration in order to derive greater appeal while optimizing clarity and impact,” says Paul Tilly, PnP group marketing manager. He stresses that while the group has undergone an extensive strategic review, and various projects have been initiated to ensure it remains the leader within the grocery retail sector, what will never change is its core values and principles. “Our strategic review of the business has resulted in an integrated change plan to ensure our growth over the next 10 years.”
The Specifics
The review process to define what makes PnP unique resulted in a comprehensive Brand Driver Platform which was formulated, refined and agreed upon. Tilly notes that this ethos fundamentally informs and guides every aspect of how PnP goes about its business: its thinking, its processes, how it innovates and how it leads. Every customer touch point will be aligned with the brand’s new visual identity over a two-year period and reflect and signify the ongoing improvements and changes that are taking place. This will include, but not be limited to, PnP’s brandmark; brandline; signage; packaging on house brands; livery; corporate collateral; digital platforms, to new in-store designs accompanied by changes to the stores’ trolleys, carrier bags and uniforms.
Marketing Initiatives
PnP has now added to the mix a range of messages heralding its untold stories from the research and development that goes into a range of factors. These include its product development; quality control processes and quality assurance to its fully traceable, country-reared meat; BEE owned Central Bakery which produces a range of artisanal breads across the scale to its CSI initiatives, service commitments such as its Scanrite policy, double your money back guarantee, and Rain Cheque. PnP launched its customer magazine, Fresh Living, after a connections audit was undertaken and it was evident that such a publication would generate a higher response than any other direct medium and be more effective for cross selling than direct mail. Fresh Living was launched at the same time as the re-launch of the PnP brand and Tilly says that the initial sales figures and positive anecdotal response from customers has borne out this strategy overwhelmingly. “A variety of strategic, organizational and operational performance measurements are being implemented to ensure our sustainable growth and to create enduring customer and stakeholder value. Key to this will be evaluating our marketing effectiveness by developing a model that clearly demonstrates a return on our marketing investment, and mapping that to a sustained increase in our brand health and the profitable organic growth of PnP,” says Tilly.
Customer Care
In order to improve its interface with customers, PnP has put forward a number of promises which will be promoted in-store on posters and on the in-store plasma screens for the benefits of customers and as a constant reminder to staff. “Whenever there is more than one person queuing in front of a customer at the till we aim to open another till until all the tills are open. Secondly, in the unlikely event that a customer finds any expired product on any shelf, we’ll provide them with a fresh one for free. We are also retaining our promise that if a product scans at a different price to that displayed on the shelf and the barcode corresponds, then the product is given free of charge and any further items at the lower price. Changing on the outside is really something special, but what happens on the inside is critical,” says Tilly.
Franchising
The hype around PnP franchising some of its stores is not a new concept. In fact it has been around for 15 years with the first franchise opening its doors in December 1993 in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal. “We currently have 207 franchise stores and a further 13 stores planned for 2008. We have multiple formats, such as our hypermarkets, supermarkets, mini markets, clothing stores, liquor stores and pharmacies, but ultimately there is only one master brand: Pick n Pay. Our new visual identity seeks to clarify this to our customers so that formats are not positioned or confused with the brand and to ensure that there is a seamless identity, offering a single-minded promise.”
On Target
Contrary to popular belief, PnP says that its target audience has not changed; it has merely defined and segmented them based upon the research it undertook. The target audience has been defined by engaging with a variety of ‘best-of breed local and international specialists’ to evaluate various aspects of PnP’s business. “From our convenience food offering, our supply chain management and distribution strategy to our entire proposition and how we take it to market. As always PnP remains focused on the long term sustainability and growth of the business. We are forever conscious of our responsibility to our shareholders, but more broadly to our staff and the communities in which we operate,” says Tilly.
Customer Insights Through Research
PnP’s customers are at the heart of its decision making process and therefore a substantial element of the review process was in-depth customer research with 3070 customers across South Africa. This confirmed to the group that the brand has a strong appeal across the spectrum and also highlighted some important areas where it needs to improve. “Our vision is to extend our position as South Africa’s favourite and most admired grocery retailer,” says Tilly. What emerged from PnP’s customer research was that its advertising could not solely be a price proposition. It was identified that PnP customers are increasingly making brand choices based on a complex scorecard that reflect their personal needs, values, ethics and aspirations as well baseline criteria such as convenience, a pleasurable shopping experience, product range and quality at a reasonable price. “All of this combines to affect shopping behaviour and patterns,” says Tilly.
While product and price will always remain an integral part of the group’s marketing communication, Tilly says it was evident that PnP had to close the price perception gap with its customers through this platform. “Ongoing independent audits by Adcheck have proved that PnP gives you more for your money on a basket check in excess of 1000 items, product for product. Through key qualitative and quantitative customer insights gleaned towards the end of last year, PnP’s new strategic direction is empirically based, yet tempered with its experience and intuition.” As for PnP’s research, Tilly says that the group’s customer-based insights is ongoing and takes the form of in-house interviews, in-store interviews, customer panels, its Youth Consumer Board among a variety of other channels. “The brand re-launch is being rolled out over a two year period, and we await the implementation on a critical mass of our stores before testing and providing any meaningful evidence of its impact.”
Public Reaction
BizCommunity.com is currently running a poll which asks ‘what do you think of the new Pick n Pay logo?’ Interestingly, of the 1853 recorded total votes, 31.84% said ‘yes, a winner’; 15.49% said ‘not sure’, and 52.67% said ‘no, don’t like it’. In response to this, Tilly says: “Our criterion for evaluation of our refreshed brandmark, brandline and visual identity was based on how it met our strategic objectives first before being judged on a scale of subjective appeal. The strategic criteria was always: can it serve as a catalyst for internal audiences?; will it help drive perceptions in line with the brand strategy?; would it differentiate PnP from its competitors? Is it memorable and engaging? Is it warm optimistic and honest?”
Staff Reaction
Integral to PnP’s brand rejuvenation has been its brand engagement process with all staff to ensure that they, too, are inspired and motivated, as well as driven to represent the company in the best possible manner. Tilly says this process was chiefly to provide internal audiences with an external focus with the aim of supporting employees to deliver a customer experience that fits with the brand promise or brand strategy. “Our latest internal newsletter, Pick n Patter, carries anecdotes from our staff on the brand relaunch and how the changes have given them a renewed sense of excitement, commitment and pride. In particular they mention how much they love their new workwear, and how customers like it too.”
