Major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths were called out on the first episode of the ABC's new season of Gruen for targeting children, or “future shoppers”, with their collectable offers.
The program looked at the war between Coles Little Shop and Woolworths’ Ooishies and Discovery Garden promotions.
Regular panellist and PwC chief creative officer Russel Howcroft says Coles has a good brand marketing strategy with its Little Shop as children are “learning about brands”.
“The genius of this marketing promo is that the brands pay to be involved,” Howcroft says.
“And yes, they get to have the brands in the hands of people who they know are going to be future shoppers.
“So, it does sound completely crazy, doesn’t it? But the kids that are collecting now are going to have a sense of loyalty to the brands they collect probably for the rest of their lives.”
Fellow panellist Todd Sampson called out the supermarket.
“The whole notion of creating little shoppers, or little consumers, feels to me like we’re marketing grooming ... young kids,” Sampson says.
Coles launched its first Little Shop promotion late last year which proved to be highly successful and saw some collectors selling the mini products for $500 on eBay.
Woolworths attributed the promotion as cause to a dent in its sales for Q1 of the 2019 financial year.
The 30 collectable items in the first range included mini Tim Tams, Colgate, Weet-Bix, Vegemite and Milo.
The promotion returned this year but came under fire for creating plastic waste with a petition to have Coles Little Shop banned following reports of the minituare collectables being washed up on beaches in Bali.
Woolworths retaliation tactic Ooshies also saw success for the supermarket's sales but was widely condemned for its use of plastic, leading it to the launch of Discovery Garden which encourages kids to grow their own herbs.
Campaign Edge executive creative director Dee Madigan says the Woolworths Discovery Garden is more “on brand “ for the supermarket.
“It’s inoculating against the accusation that Woolworths is using too much plastic because this is all environmental, it’s fresh food people – so it’s right to Woolworths’ brand – but what it’s also doing is long term stuff," Madigan says.
“So, Woolworths' competition isn’t just Coles and Aldi now. It’s home delivered, fully-made meals and what this does is remind people the joy of cooking from scratch.”
The promotion was advertised in schools and daycares which Madigan likened to Commonwealth’s Dollarmite accounts.
“The bit I’m super uncomfortable with is we do know brand exposure increases brand loyalty,” Madigan says.
“This is making schools and teachers complicit in the marketing to children and I feel like schools should be a commercial free zone.”
Gruen had 754,000 metro viewers overnight.
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