Supermarkets lift ad spend on the celebrities

By: trademagazin Date: 2007. 12. 28. 00:00

The UK's supermarket chains dramatically increased their advertising budgets in 2007, according to figures compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

Morrison's increased its advertising spend by £18 million,
or 61%, hiring celebrities including Lulu, Alan Hansen and Denise Van Outen.

Morrison's advertising spend from January to November 2007
was £46.5m, up from £28.8m in the same period last year.

Tesco increased its advertising spend by almost £4m to
£71.2m, hiring the Spice Girls for its Christmas campaign. The action was
succesful, sales of Christmas beef are up 110% at Tesco, thanks partly to the
endorsement of the Spice Girl's Mel C (Sporty Spice) in the supermarket's TV ad
campaign.

Marks & Spencer's spend decreased by £3m to £60.4m,
despite adding actor Antonio Banderas to its celebrity roster. Asda increased its budget from £39.5m to £44.9m. Sainsbury's Jamie Oliver-led campaign increased spending
from £50.6m to £53.5m.