“It takes time. It takes a really close relationship. That is hard in a world where pressures on budgets.” LBB’s Brittney Rigby also speaks with ALDI’s Simon Padovani, and BMF’s Hannah McHard and Anna Bollinger.
BMF and ALDI say their Effies dominance is proof that an enduring idea and enduring client-agency partnership has even more power when the industry is battling economic headwinds, shrinking budgets, and a lean towards short-termism.
BMF was crowned Effective Agency of the Year, and ALDI Effective Advertiser of the Year, taking home the Grand Effie in addition to three golds, two silvers, and a bronze.
BMF CEO Steve McArdle told LBB that “ALDI is a beautiful gift” of a client, he said, because the brand understands the value of “great partnerships with great people, great talent who work together closely and build that brand.” The agency has worked with ALDI for 23 years.
BMF’s head of effectiveness, Hannah McHard, said the results of the ALDI work show it’s investing “in a brand that keeps you through those tough periods. It’s your survival mechanism, and you come out stronger.” ‘Shop ALDI First’, she said, is proof “you don’t have to just default to the market. You don’t have to default to the context at the time. You can actually challenge it and use it to your advantage.”
The platform’s success was also a case of the right insight being acted upon at the right time. ALDI is a challenger brand in a market with a supermarket duopoly, but with the consumer watchdog taking Woolworths and Coles to court for misleading customers, the German-owned underdog is now Australia’s most trusted supermarket brand.
BMF’s CEO, Steve, noted that ‘Shop ALDI First’ was developed two years ago, while executive planning director Anna Bollinger added the “insight that people shop at multiple different supermarkets is something we’ve always known.”
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