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Transforming a budding brand dispute into a positive, headline-grabbing moment

Disciplines covered

Brand Positioning • Communications • PR • Social

Industry sector

Retail

In the festive spirit of Christmas, Cirkle PR orchestrated a unique peace offering from Aldi to its supermarket counterpart, Marks and Spencer.

This gesture came in the wake of the summer’s ‘Caterpillargate’ feud involving Colin (from M&S) and Cuthbert (from Aldi), setting the stage for a reconciliation ahead of the holiday season amid a new dispute over similar seasonal gin products.

The Challenge

As tensions between Aldi and Marks & Spencer began to rise again, this time over their comparable seasonal gin selections, Cirkle PR saw an opportunity to transform the budding dispute into a positive, headline-grabbing moment.

The goal was to diffuse the tension in a way that would capture public attention, generate widespread media coverage, and ultimately drive footfall to Aldi stores, all while reinforcing Aldi’s image as a brand with a good sense of humour and a heart for reconciliation.

Our approach

Cirkle PR unveiled a grand gesture of goodwill by installing a 10ft mistletoe structure in Skegness, symbolically located between the neighbouring Aldi and M&S stores. This mistletoe ‘Olive Branch’ carried an invitation for both brands to ‘kiss and make up’, turning a potential conflict into a moment of unity during the Christmas season.

Disciplines

  • PR Strategy
  • Public Relations
  • Social Media

Results

  • Visibility and Engagement: The campaign generated an impressive 205 million opportunities to see, far exceeding the key performance indicator (KPI) of 10 million.
  • Media Coverage: Achieved 71 pieces of coverage, significantly surpassing the initial KPI of 20+.
  • Social Media Impact: Aldi’s social media platforms buzzed with activity, garnering 18,000 likes, shares, and comments, reflecting the campaign’s resonance with the audience.
  • Sales Growth: Kantar research highlighted Aldi as the “only major supermarket” to witness a sales increase for the month year-on-year (YOY), with sales up by 0.4% compared to the same period the previous year, attributing to the innovative campaign’s success in enhancing Aldi’s market presence and consumer appeal.

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