Metro Inc. has launched a $200-million marketing and advertising campaign to rebrand its five Ontario grocery chains, acquired in 2005, under the Metro banner.
Dominion, A&P, The Barn, Loeb and Ultra Food & Drug stores will switch to the Metro name over the next year and a half. Six stores in the Toronto area have already been changed over, along with another 10 next week.
Accompanying the change is a campaign from Cossette Communication-Marketing. Metro has worked Cossette for six years, marketing its stores in Quebec. The agency also consulted on branding strategy in 2006 shortly after Metro purchased its Ontario interests.
“We took a hiatus while they got their plan together, and were re-engaged in the spring to develop the actual launch campaign,” said Brett Marchand, managing director, executive vice-president at Cossette in Toronto.
The advertising will focuses on out-of-home and in-store. Billboard and transit wrap executions feature store employees cradling food, accompanied by headline “A store is born.”
“Our vision for the new brand is to make Metro the star in our industry,” said Selena Fiacco, spokesperson for Metro. “Our campaign shines the spotlight not only on our key differentiators—meat, bakery, home meal replacement, floral and private label—but also on our most important offering, our employees, who are the reason for the company’s success.”
Online marketing will promote Metro’s extensive offering of recipes to encourage consumers to buy the ingredients from their stores.
Fiacco admits there are serious challenges to rebranding so many established stores at once, “but we know, through extensive research, that what is most important to Ontario customers is a great food offering, friendly and professional service and a convenient shopping experience. That is what we will be delivering through the new Metro approach.”
Metro expects the conversions for Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn to be complete by the end of the year, with Loeb’s makeovers to finish up in 2009 and A&P in 2010.
