Change4Life woos brands’ promotions

News that the government-backed Change4Life healthy lifestyle campaign has relaxed its retail guidelines to embrace greater corporate involvement (Marketing, 4 May). This gave some marketers a glint in their eyes but could this focus signal an end to the relentless price promotions that dominated grocery retail during the recession? After all, only so much space can be given to point-of-sale messages before stores become cluttered and confusing.

Instore Price Promotions On Healthy Food Items : The Future

Shopper marketing experts are quick to quash any such excitement. Kay Staniland, managing director of retail analyst Assosia, believes deals will prevail. ‘Consumers are so ensconced in the promotional ethos that just saying “Change4Life” won’t make any difference,’ she says. ‘Health is absolutely not a premium position now.’ In fact, Staniland contends that price promotions are of unparalleled importance, as consumers need to be reassured they are not paying a premium for healthy food.

However, Danielle Pinnington, managing director of shopper behaviour research agency Shoppercentric, is more optimistic that coupling Change4Life branding with a price promotion could pay dividends. ‘It would be tough for Change4Life to be purely a health-based promotion, because it doesn’t have enough resonance yet for the consumer,’ she says. ‘It does need a little promotional push, to get people to change.’

Published Marketing Magazine.co.uk, 11 May 2011

http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/1068943/change4life-woos-brands-promotions