Spar is planning to spend £2.25m on marketing in the next year, with more TV advertising and new PoS material to make stores "stand out and be recognised". Activity scheduled for the next year will include three two-week bursts of the Spar television advertising on prime time ITV1 in the autumn, at Christmas and in February. Xtra Value, which has been running for three years, will be replaced by Real Deals on grocery and off licence lines and multibuys, taking "into account retailer aspirations when it comes to margins". There will also be new "creative" themed PoS for occasions including the Golden Jubilee, World Cup, Halloween and St Valentine's Day. Spar is carrying out the revamp of its promotion after canvassing customers. Most said they could not do without their local Spar but thought it was expensive, the range was safe and boring, and there were no interesting meals on offer. Marketing director Susan Darbyshire said: "Communicating value is the key area we are going to be concentraing on. Promotions were too complicated before. "Real Deals are designed to shout about value, not just talk about it." In addition, off-licence sections will offer a "wine of the week" and each store will be supplied with a wine tasting kit to increase customer confidence in Spar branded wines. Fresh Meals will be improved and the range extended, with the introduction of a wastage allowance for retailers. Ethnic meals and accompaniments and fresh meats will be introduced. Price-marking will be extended on own label lines to increase customer confidence products are fairly priced. Own label beers will be relaunched in new packaging late in the year and Spar brand vodka and gin will also be repackaged in the run up to Christmas. The Millennium Store programme will focus on store exteriors and the off-licence section within stores, and there will be further implementation of the initiative to boost the amount of fresh produce carried in store. {{NEWS }}

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