Lidl Easter ad

Its turnover is dwarfed by supermarket rivals. But as Aldi goes head to head with the big four, it’s come within touching distance of matching even Sainsbury’s on ad spend, according to a new report for The Grocer - and Lidl is hot on its heels.

The survey of Britain’s Biggest FMCG Advertisers, compiled by media analysts Ebiquity, showed Aldi splashed out £53m in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 43% - taking its total spend above Marks & Spencer for the first time. And although Sainsbury’s media budget of £54m was higher, as a proportion of sales Aldi spent more than eight times more on advertising spend than the UK’s second largest supermarket.

Aldi’s reward has been stellar sales growth. According to Kantar Worldpanel, Aldi sales grew by a record 33.5% [12 w/e 2 March 2014] achieving record market share of 4.3%, up 1% on 2013.

“We set out to be helpful, friendly, honest, different and no-nonsense. Our award-winning Like Brands campaign compares our products against a branded competitor, using humour to further engage with customers. The campaign also includes executions that communicate the depth and quality of our range,” said an Aldi spokesman.

Meanwhile, rival discounter Lidl made its debut in our ranking of the top 20 retail advertisers, after increasing its budget by 47% - the highest in percentage terms of any retailer.

After spending £750,000 on its first TV ad last Christmas, which focused on its Deluxe premium range, last week, it launched a new TV push for Easter which also focused on its Deluxe range, but introduced a new strapline ‘Lidl Surprises’.

“The difference this time is the heroes are the people as well as the food,” said a spokeswoman for Lidl. “We have developed the concept to convey people’s reactions to the quality of the food. It’s about challenging misconceptions that people may have about not being able to get high quality at good value. These ads demonstrate that, whatever your tastes, you will be able to get everything you want and need for Easter at Lidl.”

Lidl’s market share is also at a record high of 3.2%, up from 2.8% in 2013. Last month sales were up 16.6% [12 w/e 2 March 2014].

“Aldi and Lidl are relative newcomers to TV but they have embraced it with gusto and are reaping the rewards,” said Lindsey Clay, CEO of Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK. “Any supermarket that wants to grow should be on TV.”

Overall, supermarkets spent £455m on ads in 2013, a record amount, up 10% on 2012, reversing a three-year decline.

Tesco was the biggest spender at £92m, up 6% on 2012, accounting for 5% of all retail spending. However, M&S and Asda reduced spending by 24% and 8.5% respectively.

Ad spend turnover