Lengthy Woolworths ‘More Savings Every Day’ ad savours special moments
Woolworths has launched a new television commercial created by Sydney agency Droga5 featuring the personal story of a Woolworths employee.
The lengthy ad launched last night follows a woman as she wakes up and savours life’s simple pleasures on her way to work, suggesting the “More Savings Every Day” saves customers time as well as money.
As the sun rises in an Australian suburb, she sees her sleeping son and husband, makes coffee, and drives to work while the voiceover of her narration about how there is less time for ‘the important stuff’ is played to a simple piano score. As she passes an outdoor ad for a beach holiday, a group of carefree schoolgirls, and men debating over coffee outside a cafe, the ad comments on how there is less time to escape, less joy and less time to debate.
That left me totally confused.
I’m glad the PR blurb (tried to help) explain the strategy.
Maybe this should be transcribed onto Woolies check-out receipt?
So coles have a big red arrow and ‘down down’, woolies have an over complicated and badly executed strategy which tells the audience nothing..
And the irony of talking about value by spending millions on a TVC shouldn’t go un-congratulated..
The insight this campaign is based on is complete hogwash. Widespread access to household appliances means we have more leisure time than at any point in human history. Hence why we can spend so long watching TV & browsing Facebook. http://adage.com/article/media.....tv/227022/
“Our customers are telling us that the things that are most important in their lives are financial security, time to spend with family and making healthy choices,”
Is that what passes for insights these days??
hahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Pure evil. No – they are definitely not promising to change the world – they are making LOTS of money just the way it is.
60 Seconds too long…Boring!
I viewed this last night as a consumer and found it boring and sad
I have no idea what was going on either? Looks like there will be plenty of time for debating this one!
Whoa! 90 second spots. Could start the ad at “Monday, Tuesday,” and save a lot on the media spend.
If they just made a 30″ or 60″ spot she wouldn’t have such a long commute, so she’d spend less on fuel and have more time to exercise and spend time with her family.
Second that Bill. I don’t quite get the message either. I glazed over by the time she was in the car looking at a Ferris Wheel.
No more green uniforms?
holy hell that’s depressing.
What just happened?
Awful, a whole lot of condescending awful.
Lose, Lose. Ad guys and girls AND punters will both hate it. A special achievement.
Now we are self-actualising in our supermarket ads. What on earth is Western society coming to?
“Why settle for less when we deserve more?” .. and then the kids yell at you to shop at Coles to win One Direction tickets! Sorry Woolies..regardless of the elngth of your adverts, you aint winning with this battle! Plus I got a good laugh posting my pic of me and the cut-out One Directioners that fronts my Coles entrance on my Facebook page for hundreds to see.. and I’m guessing I’m not the only one to do it! An integrated campaign that has Coles winning BIG RED HANDs down – Coles has a personality- Sorry Woolies you don’t.
I saw this for the first time last night, and although I was confused at first and thought it was a road safety/some kind of social marketing ad, I actually really liked it. Nice message. Nice one Droga.
Feels a bit worthy. Wool Worthy.
I see a lot of tall poppies here.
Is this not a branding strategy? Do you think anybodies branding and advertising strategy is “We are a commercial enterprise here to take your money for the best profit margin?”. No. In the same vein, celebrated ads such as the Nescafe saga were heralded as the new wave in emotive advertising – did people crucify Nescafe as a purveyor of all of the downsides of instant coffee?
I think for fear of playing devils advocate – it’s a stylised ad, taking a unique approach for a supermarket – and I think executed well. It’s message, whilst not a punch in the face such as a ghastly red arrow and a dancing buffoon a.k.a. Coles serves its purposes. Humanises and keeps Woolworths top of mind.
Spot on.
Looks great but will it make me shop at Woolworths the pokies people? Not in my lifetime!
@Anon, that’s gold.
That left me totally confused.
This and the recent Qantas rover ad are basically the same ad and clearly the new Droga formula.
https://mumbrella.com.au/droga5-launches-qantas-frequent-flyer-curiosity-campaign-161057
Twinkly piano soundtrack, overly long lingering shots, laid back conversational read, final shot looking up to the sky.
Beautiful but forgettable.
I never slag off ads on here as its a vulgar symptom of this industry and usually reeks of jealousy but:
I had to watch it 3 times and am still confused. Maybe the strategy is to get 3x the benchmark YouTube views?
The set I get – Less time to enjoy life is Bad etc.
Then the VO says ‘Who says less is more, less is better’ well they just set up that less is bad I thought?
Then they turn the time thing on its head and make it about more, more what? Savings I guess? But I thought they were talking about time not money.
And then it turns out its not about the consumer its about the store manager.
Is the store manager sacrificing her own time with her kid so I get to sleep in with my kid like some sort of religious martyr. Arrgh my head hurts.
Did David Lynch Direct?
Can someone from the agency tell me why I’m going to go to woolies after seeing this? Are we supposed to want to be this woman living her idyllic life in a pretty inner city suburb or feel sorry for her that she’s working in a supermarket and want to give her our money? Is her good looking domestic life supposed to be representatative of how clean the woolies floors are? Do we need to seize the day and find a better woolies rather than the one we’re stuck with at the end of the street? Compared to Coles, does the classier execution mean you have better looking potatoes (“every day value”)?Compared to status quo, is the more subdued music to do with cheaper potatoes (“more savings every day”)? Throw us a friggin fresh bone would you, am genuinely curious.
Woolworths use to have the best ads on television. They were fun and I used to sing along with “We’re Woolworths the fresh food people with fresh ideas……….”
What happened?
BORING!
For me the real kicker and real effectiveness is buried deep in a beautifully shot, expensive yet wasted ad.
Whilst Coles in banging on about cheap and nasty and giving customers less, here’s Woolies saying “we’ll give you more” – for me, that’s a nice place to be and the real strategy that should be given more attention.
This screams “Client ad”.
Droga5 can do good work. But this reminds me of the maxim “Clients get the work they deserve”.
Where’s the brand? Where’s the warmth?
A pity that the farmers and primary producers are getting the raw end of the deal from these big retailers. Regardless of the spin, the nice ads and the lovely one liners, our farmers are really doing it tough.
Coles had a lovely Explainer video about the price of their milk a few weeks ago – I know diary farmers who are loosing money on every litre sold. That’s not right.
Keep making nice ads guys, but look after your Aussie suppliers.
Crazy times.
Oh dear – I’m really depressed after that ad. Makes Coles ads look positively joyous and they’re pretty crappy.
Cut to Coles marketing team rolling around on the floor laughing.
“Our customers are telling us that the things that are most important in their lives are financial security, time to spend with family and making healthy choices,” a spokeswoman for Woolworths said…
But their choice of supermarket can’t do much about those things, so we made a maudlin ad about a morning in the life of one of our store managers instead.
As a consumer, the big red hand and “Down down!” stick with me every time I need to go shopping. I’d love if Woolworths could do something that would knock Coles’s tunes out of my memory but this definitely isn’t it.
Genuine responses to the ad as it played.
“Oh my god, is she going to die?”
And…
“Is that the guy from Aerosmith at the end?”
Middle class drivel
@Anon 4:54pm – “screams client ad” – really? In your clearly limited agency career where you’ve developed your bitter little view of the industry when have you ever known a client to say “I want a long drawn-out, somewhat-depressing ad with a overly long narrative (that could possibly confuse people) and has nothing to do with what our customers really want from us… Oh and I want it to be 90 seconds long because media is really cheap to buy in 90 second blocks and we have an endless marketing budget”…?
Even if in your mind that really happens, it’s the agency’s job to ensure the execution will connect with the audience and drive a result.
So you have less time for the things that really matter when your employed at Woolworths?
Wallpaper, with a truly awful script and v/o.
Really??? Bring back Maria and Stavros, they made me laugh.
@Dave, couldn’t agree more. It screams self-indulgent ‘agency ad’ to me.
It appears over the last year or so Woolies marketing team has gone AWOL.
Coles is doing a much better job INHOUSE!
No wonder the poor girl has no time, she’s driving around in circles….. She goes southbound on the ED, ends up in what looks like inner west, back across the Harbour Bridge heading south yet again, then ends up at Woolies Wolli Creek. Someone get the girl a GPS.
Great Ad! makes me want to buy coffee….i think….
Huh?!? I don’t get it.
Are they implying that if prices are less we get more time in our day?
Wait, but then she said “who says less is more…?” So are they lowering prices or not?
My head hurts.
Another example of ad agencies being so out of touch with consumer land.
Frustrated wanna be Hollywood film producers. Movies are about stories, ads are about getting a simple message across in 15 seconds. If you want to make 90 second movies, get on a plane to L.A.