Metropol

Brand New finally did an article about the new branding:
http://www.underconsideration.com/brand ... vss4uIrI2w

Disappointed they don't yet have a bag for life sporting the new branding

JAS84 wrote:Brand New finally did an article about the new branding:
http://www.underconsideration.com/brand ... vss4uIrI2w

Surprises me they have any time for the old logo, leave alone preferring it - but I guess they've managed to avoid the baggage the logo has attached to it, both in terms of decaying stores and the logo it was based upon/adapted from.

WillPS wrote:generally failing to see any value in Safeway's brand or offer, despite the fact it had much better penetration and brand awareness - particularly in the South and Wales

This I think was the biggest cockup they made. Prior to the takeover there were no Morrisons stores at all in this part of the country. Safeway on the other hand was ubiquitous (particularly since all the Southern Presto stores were eventually rebranded to Safeway when they were owned by Argyll). To follow up an acquisition which may well have been biting off more than they could chew by an immediate and costly refit program, particularly when many stores were nowhere near due refits (such as the former Plymouth Safeway megastore which was built new in 2002 yet largely gutted and redone only 3 years later during the rebrand) and which would involve a change of name too was a questionable commercial decision.

It may well have been Sir Ken's dream to see Morrisons as a nationwide brand and it may well have been that the way forward in the end was to rebrand but the apparent sense of urgency to get it done was ridiculous. Essentially they saw zero value in acquiring one of the (then) big 4 national supermarket brands.

As you say, there seemed to be a belief that Morrisons already had their format absolutely nailed and there was nothing to be learnt from Safeway, even though Safeway had in recent years undergone a lot of work to modernise and improve their offering which Morrisons had not.

The end result was Morrisons rolling out what was already a tired old format en masse at great cost (and for the newer/recently refitted stores, involved bringing them *down* to Morrisons standard rather than delivering any improvements), only for most of it to be changed again only a few years later when Morrisons actually started to think about modernisation.

Whether or not they have survived to tell the tale it was still a stupid move. A far more sensible option would have been to push rebranding back to a mid-term goal and spend the initial years working on a more modern format for Morrisons which could eventually be rolled out both to the Safeway stores and the existing Morrisons stores.

I hope Morrisons can turn things around but they seem a bit lost - what is their target market other than the old ladies who will come anyway? They seem to be aiming for 'cheap' at the moment, but a lot of the everyday stuff just isn't and some of the smaller supermarkets don't have a fantastic range of stuff. Most of the stores around here are looking pretty tired as well, they've had minor facelifts but the old checkouts, flooring and dismal cafe remain.

The new logo is nice but nothing else has changed in terms of their advertising/branding and they seem to have rolled it out pretty quickly without rebranding stores, products or anything else.

I hope they can find a selling point that differentiates them - to me they either need to go very cheap (competing with the likes of Lidl/Aldi but with more brands/range) or take advantage of the "Market Street" brand and go local - quality local produce (meats, fruit/veg where possible, bread made some local crops etc.)

I think most customers will see an in-store bakery and assume it's all made in there regardless of what store it is (just a heat-up job or a 'from scratch' affair). No amount of straining this apparently crucial point of difference will really change much, in my view. I doubt the customers are going to come flooding in because the greasy doughnuts were made in-store and not somewhere down the road.



Family. Morrisons Makes It. Eugh.

PS - Perhaps he broke his leg falling down the stairs with no banister.

((EDIT: Sorry, I see that Morrisons Makes Love in this ad, so that explains how Morrisons Makes Family.))

The radio version of that fucking doughnut advert keeps playing at work. I cannot bear that narrator's voice. The way he describes the jam and says "lip-smacking" is infuriating. And what are the lyrics to that song, I can't make it out. "We feel fine"?

Such a dull as dishwater campaign for what I assume they wanted to be a defining rebrand.

The song in question is 'Joy' by Will Young after a quick Siri search.

Is the new concept Cafe rolling out everywhere now ?

Just had an email to say a redesigned loyalty card is on its way.

looks like Morrisons have started to rol out new logo on there own brand range, picked up some sandwiche with new tree logo on, also the have goback to 'The Best' brand not sure how to insert image