Aggressive and ambitious, Asda’s latest campaign pits it head-to-head with Argos and starts a price war on toys.

The simple and straightforward ad emphasises price as the point of difference

It is a break from the norm for Asda. With the exception of clothing line George, the grocer traditionally focuses its marketing spend on its core food proposition.

But it is now targeting toys – an important part of the non-food mix – with gusto. The premise is simple – Asda claims it has 503 toy products cheaper than Argos, after investing £10m in cutting price in the category. And it wants to shout about it.

Intensely price-focused, its sole purpose is to convince consumers that Asda is the place to go for the lowest price toys.

The ad itself is simple and straightforward – when price is the point of difference being emphasised, there’s no need to waste ad seconds on anything more complex than saying “we’re cheaper”.

The ad pushes an interesting multichannel element as well, reminding people they can order online and pick up in-store.

Multichannel customers are valuable, and Asda’s focus on this is interesting considering its online business has not so far been its strongest point.

The toys ad was shown just on TV and ran for just five days. Asda says it plans to run similar ads in other non-food categories in the crucial run-up to Christmas.

It’s an obvious and clever play for shoppers feeling the pinch, with incomes for many of its customers remaining squeezed as the countdown to Christmas begins.