Bish-Jones said Woolworths will spend about£25 million on advertising this year– a similar figure to the record it hit last Christmas. However, unlike previous years, it will not be running general brand ads on TV.
He said: “We are not doing a huge Woolies Winter Wonderland ad campaign this year.” Instead, the retailer will concentrate on other forms of advertising, including its Big Red Book catalogue and online initiatives, such as search engine placement and banner ads.
Six million copies of Woolworths’ third Big Red Book, which has 112 more pages than last year, are being distributed. Bish-Jones said: “We have downweighted TV presence. We will have some TV ads, but they will concentrate on entertainment releases.”
In an interim management statement this week, Woolworths revealed group sales jumped 16.6 per cent in the 38 weeks to October 27, beating market expectations. Performance was driven primarily by acquisitions and new contracts – including one with Asda – at the retailer’s entertainment wholesale business.
However, retail sales slid 0.4 per cent. Bish-Jones said that the period was adversely affected by big sporting events including the Rugby World Cup, which hit Saturday trading. But he added that Woolworths was not alone in having been hurt by the events and that John Lewis had reported a similar pattern.
Bish-Jones said the retail division was operationally well prepared for Christmas and the Worth It range continues to perform well. Multichannel was also encouraging. However, he was cautious about the trading environment in the build-up to Christmas and said: “I have no hidden skills to predict consumer confidence.”
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