- To communicate the summer offering to the primary textiles market (Middle-Upper Income Females) within a quality-advertising environment and showcase the brand.- To emphasize the positioning of the brand, “Woolworths, the difference” through the innovative use of media thereby strongly differentiating the brand from competitors.- To maximize the campaign impact within the flagship titles and achieve dominance in a cluttered competitive environment. Woolworths required a campaign to showcase their ladies textile offering to the female market in a strong qualitative environment, while emphasizing the high levels of innovation associated with the brand through a newly adopted positioning namely, “Woolworths the difference”RooiRose, True Love and Fair Lady have been selected as core titles to reach the female fashion customer, and to showcase Woolworths offering. These titles are certainly the premium female fashion titles in South Africa, reaching key targeting segments for Woolworths. It was decided that in order to dominate the titles and elevate the brand above all other advertisers, a very special campaign would be required The campaign comprised of two distinct formatsTabs – Four single-page stitched inserts were inserted into RooiRose, True Love and Fair Lady in September. The inserts labeled Man, Woman, Child and Home were each inserted into the relevant section within a magazine. Each insert had a labeled tag, which protruded from the magazine. A follow-up campaign ran in October with a single tab for ladies’ textiles.

Cover Flap – This format was used quite successfully in the November and December issues of Fair Lady, RooiRose and True Love. The concept involved a flap that folded back from a stitched insert. This allowed the brand slogan for Summer to be exposed on the front cover of three prominent fashion magazines simultaneously. The reader also had to open the flap in order to read the magazine, thereby exposing the brand logo on the reverse side of the flap.Woolworths, through innovation, has been successful in breaking through the competitive clutter usually associated with fashion titles, to communicate to textiles consumer. The campaign’s success was not due to one individual or department. Due to the complexities involved, a number of departments had to work closely together, each contributing to the campaign. Media was instrumental in ensuring that media owners accepted the idea, understood it and were able to implement it effectively. The media department was involved throughout the process from initiation to implementation. Woolworths has always been successful in introducing innovative advertising ideas. These are primarily targeted at the core Woolworths customer - middle to upper income female market. Communication formats, especially in print, have changed dramatically over the last few years, each time taking a fresh approach. These include the Magalog (a 40-page catalogue inserted into magazines), and a variety of exciting stitched and loose insert concepts. The bulk of these have been inserted into female interest and fashion titles, establishing strong bonds with the reader over an extensive period of timeThe summer 2001/2002 campaign achieved high levels of noting from readers of the female fashion titles selected, and within the advertising and media industry. Client research indicates that noting levels for magazine advertising doubled over the period. This campaign was definitely a first considering the complexities involved in bagging, folding trimming, etc, which tested the limits of what is possible within the print medium. The campaign has elevated the brand and certainly set a standard of innovation that challenges all other retailers and print advertisers currently advertising in female fashion magazines.This campaign has ensured that readers were exposed to the brand with maximum impact. Woolworths “owned” the titles concerned for the campaign period, completely dominating any competitor activity.

The campaign’s success was not due to one individual or department. Due to the complexities involved, a number of departments had to work closely together, each contributing to the campaign. Media was instrumental in ensuring that media owners accepted the idea, understood it and were able to implement it effectively. The media department was involved throughout the process from initiation to implementation.