UK retailer Majestic Wine could be set to abandon its foray into television advertising, focusing instead on new store openings and forging closer relationships with its customers.
Majestic launched its first national television ad campaign last summer after trials in the London area six months earlier, but has admitted since that its results were ‘satisfactory, but not compelling’.
Now it could be set to change tack once the final analysis of the winter ad campaign is in, which is expected to be in the next week or so.
‘If the evaluation of winter is consistent with these results [from last summer], then it is unlikely to be continued in its current form for next year,’ a Majestic Wine spokesperson told Decanter.com.
‘The objective of driving new customers is being achieved successfully by the new store opening programme, with 14 stores already opened and a further two to open before the end of the financial year.
‘Majestic are introducing a number of initiatives using their valuable customer data to develop the relationship with these customers and increase their frequency of visiting their stores.’
Majestic chief executive Steve Lewis described Christmas trading as ‘challenging’, with overall sales up 5.1% and like-for-like sales – which strip out the effect of new store openings – rising by only 1.1%.
The Majestic television adverts – one called ‘Chardonnay’ and the other entitled ‘Tasting Counter’ – aimed to show how the retailer’s staff reassured first-time customers who were inhibited by their lack of wine knowledge.
Written by Richard Woodard
