With lines such as \u2018High Prices? Tell them they\u2019re dr-eeming\u2019; \u2018Don\u2019t make high prices the Norm\u2019 and \u2018Why pay HIgher elsewhere?\u2019, Appliance Outlet is also using billboards near those competitors\u2019 locations to reinforce its point.<\/p>\n
One marketing expert has welcomed the campaign, and at least one of the big-chain stores has taken it in the spirit it was delivered.<\/p>\n
The agency behind the billboards, Art of the Possible, said the campaign reflected \u201ca confidence and competitiveness rarely seen in New Zealand advertising today\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffshore, you tend to see far more head-to-head banter between brands – a bit of healthy rivalry that keeps categories interesting,\u201d said Art of the Possible ANZ director Adam Brami.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn New Zealand, we\u2019ve grown more apologetic in how we market ourselves, which probably reflects our good-natured personality as a nation. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it wasn\u2019t always that way. From Energizer versus Duracell to rivalries between grocery chains, car brands and carbonated drinks, competitive tension was once a more prevalent avenue for driving creativity and consumer choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appliance Outlet is targeting its new campaign on billboards near the stores of its bigger rivals. Mock-up photo \/ supplied<\/p>\n
Brami said this campaign tapped back into that spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that challenger brands can call out the category leaders with wit, warmth and good-natured Kiwi humour. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, New Zealand is a challenger brand on the global stage – a nation of underdogs who love to punch above our weight. That spirit is part of who we are, and it\u2019s what makes campaigns like this so distinctly \u2018us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appliance Outlet owner Russell Clements said the campaign celebrated the east Auckland store\u2019s \u201cplayful challenger mentality\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Kiwis appreciate straight-talking value – and a bit of humour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to have a little fun while reminding people that there\u2019s a smarter, more sustainable way to shop for appliances. Every item we sell has been tested, guaranteed, and priced fairly – so the only thing we cut corners on is price.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appliance Outlet says it sells a range of appliances: Some brand new, some box damaged, some with cosmetic damage – such as scratches or dents – and some that are refurbished. <\/p>\n
These latter products \u201chave been previously used for a short period of time, and then returned to another retailer after a fault has been found. The product has then been fixed or mended by one of our team of service technicians, and returned to its former glory\u201d.<\/p>\n
Appliance Outlet is a small New Zealand owned retailer based in east Auckland.<\/p>\n
The billboard campaign has been conceived to coincide with the pending Black Friday deals, \u201creminding Kiwis that paying top-shelf prices for the same products simply may not make sense\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen taken home, unboxed and switched on, these are the same models, same performance, and same experience you\u2019d find at the country\u2019s largest appliance retailers – just without the price tag to match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retailers respond<\/p>\n
A quick scan of Appliance Outlet\u2019s website shows that products that have \u201cbox damage\u201d or \u201ccosmetic damage\u201d can sell below the usual retail price.<\/p>\n
For instance, it has a 98-inch Samsung high-definition TV that it says is \u201cbox damaged\u201d priced at $7992. It\u2019s priced at $8497 at another store.<\/p>\n
An LG top-loader washing machine with cosmetic damage – some scratches – is selling for $799, several hundred dollars cheaper than elsewhere.<\/p>\n
However, the bigger chains are also preparing for their own major Black Friday and Christmas deals.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Noel Leeming said: \u201cWe\u2019re stoked to see the extra love for the largest Kiwi-owned electronics brand in Aotearoa. So we welcome the competition and free advertising just in time for Black Friday. We\u2019ve got deals that others can only \u2018dreem\u2019 of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The battle of brands<\/p>\n
Massey University marketing professor and industry expert Bodo Lang said of the campaign: \u201cI absolutely love it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m often flabbergasted by how unimaginative advertising is, particularly out of home advertising – billboards, bus shelters seldom use the context in which they\u2019re placed, to their advantage. This is exactly what that campaign is doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe visuals are really easy to understand, and even if you don\u2019t see the retailer that is being compared to in the background, immediately you know which brand it is referring to, even though only part of the logo is displayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Massey University marketing professor Bodo Lang. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
He did not think the bigger retailers would care too much, or that there was a risk of breaking consumer laws or the Advertising Standards Authority code, as the statements were generic.<\/p>\n
It was critical that the advertiser itself, Appliance Outlet, could back up price expectations and assertions, especially on its website, which was where most consumers would head initially.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you compare like for like, is the Appliance Outlet that much cheaper? If it is, then they have a real proposition on their hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they can only say, well, actually it\u2019s only last year\u2019s model or only the few leftovers from the last production run of the microphones or headphones or whatever it is you\u2019re comparing, then it\u2019s not that compelling. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut undoubtedly the campaign will increase consumer awareness of the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coke and Pepsi have enaged in frequent head-to-head marketing over the years.<\/p>\n
Lang said one reason why retailers did not engage in more head-to-head marketing could be that it was more difficult these days to identify a unique selling point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are very few or even no exclusive deals unless you\u2019re the Nike store or the Apple store or something.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can get most products in most stores – sometimes this one\u2019s cheaper, sometimes that store\u2019s cheaper. There are virtually, to my knowledge, no stores that can claim to be the cheapest across everything they have.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why do retailers not do this more frequently? I think it\u2019s simply because they lack the competitive advantage to consistently provide a meaningful point of difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had looked at meta-analysis of 1700 academic studies into comparative advertising – this analysis found it can have an effect on consumer behaviour, but it\u2019s not necessarily huge, he says. <\/p>\n
Again, it will depend on specific campaigns. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to fundamentally drive consumer behaviour … it may not be the largest determinant of consumer behaviour, but it will have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Whittaker’s chocolate ad – taking aim at Cadbury – from 2010.<\/p>\n
He cited comparative campaigns in New Zealand over the years, including Pak\u2019nSave, which has sometimes cited Countdown\/Woolworths in its price comparison advertising; Whittaker\u2019s taking on Cadbury; and even ASB\u2019s Ira Goldstein – slightly more subtle with Goldstein coming from an American bank to find out what made the Kiwi bank tick. <\/p>\n
Consumer advice<\/p>\n
Watchdog agency Consumer last week urged customers to shop around as the Black Friday and Christmas deals started to ramp up.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because it\u2019s got a special sticker on it or a promotional tagline like \u2018hot deal\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean that product you\u2019ve got your eye on is on special,\u201d said Consumer communications and campaigns adviser Abby Damen.<\/p>\n
Consumer has good advice for shoppers looking for Black Friday bargains.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake use of sites like PriceMe or PriceSpy to see how much the item you\u2019ve got your eye on usually sells for. You\u2019ll quickly see whether that \u2018half-price\u2019 deal really stacks up \u2013 or the product has been hovering at that price for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damen also warned shoppers to be wary of online reviews.<\/p>\n
She said a World Economic Forum report in 2021 found that fake online reviews translated to billions of dollars in spending globally.<\/p>\n
\u201c… be suspicious of sites that use pressure tactics like countdown timers or scarcity cues – that is, \u2018only one left!\u2019. Look past the Fomo [fear of missing out]. You probably won\u2019t miss out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With lines such as \u2018High Prices? Tell them they\u2019re dr-eeming\u2019; \u2018Don\u2019t make high prices the Norm\u2019 and \u2018Why…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[95,29766,1975,4548,138,20440,88853,2222,88856,2936,88855,88854,30706,1073,111,139,87400,77588,69,83685,88852,3333],"class_list":["post-128212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-and","tag-appliance","tag-at","tag-billboard","tag-business","tag-cheeky","tag-dig","tag-harvey","tag-hifi","tag-insider","tag-jb","tag-leeming","tag-logo","tag-media","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-noel","tag-norman","tag-nz","tag-outlets","tag-poke","tag-price"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}