Dive Brief:

• Shop ‘n Save, which operates 90 stores in western Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Ohio and West Virginia, has launched a humorous ad campaign focused on the customer experience, Progressive Grocer writes. Navigating store aisles with a full cart of groceries and running errands with a hysterical toddler are just two of the all-too-relatable scenarios the company highlights. 
• The marketing campaign aims to show the New Stanton, Pennsylvania-based store’s understanding of customer needs. Underscoring Shop ‘n Save’s longtime tagline “Just Right,” the ads are meant to show the grocer’s dedication to providing a convenient and positive shopping experience, according to the report.
• The campaign includes TV spots, radio segments and digital and social media ads highlighting the store’s one-stop-shop offerings, among them a full-service deli and bakery and meat and floral departments. The ads feature name-brand products as well as the grocery store chain’s private label Essential Everyday and Wild Harvest lines.

Dive Insight:

Shop ‘n Save execs say the ad campaign reflects company efforts to evolve its brand and highlight the customer shopping experience.

“This new marketing approach, which brings some levity and a human element to the surface, will breathe new life into our ‘Just Right’ positioning.” Bill Lipsky, vice president of Shop ‘n Save merchandising, East region, stated to Progressive Grocer. “We’ll continue to showcase our competitive prices, but we’ll also emphasize our incredible value and wide range of services, all in a very relatable manner.”

Shop n’ Save is not the first grocery chain to launch a “we feel your pain” ad campaign in recent months. Whole Foods, bought recently by Amazon, recently launched a marketing strategy aimed at young consumers. The campaign takes a lovably quirky look at its devoted shoppers' experiences and interactions with helpful Whole Foods’ employees rather than food selection or quality.

Raley’s, too, has introduced an advertising campaign which, in part, uses ads to highlight personal experience, showing people shopping in different scenarios — such as buying for a vegan family member or for a book club meeting. And Lidl recently debuted a multimedia ad campaign highlighting the inefficiencies of its traditional supermarket competitors — embodied by the stuffy, fictional Vanhill family — through a mix of humorous TV, radio and digital ads.

This shopper-focused approach to marketing certainly makes sense as retailers pivot from print advertising to digital platforms.  As The Voice of Food Retail reports, the virtual platforms better allow grocers to use compelling storytelling to reach customers on a personal level. And digital ads that use humor or tell human stories are far more likely to attract and engage users compared with, say, dry ads hyping store specials or quality goods. The goal with any digital content, including advertising, is to entice users to stop scrolling and to spend time with the content — and hopefully, to “like” or “share” those posts. As grocers increasingly turn to Facebook, Instagram or even Snapchat to find customers, expect to see more ad campaigns using comedy or personal experiences to tell their stories.