Ocado mockumentary ad looks to cut through price cut push

Ocado is hoping to cut through the slew of January price-cuts with a campaign focused on customer comments, as the online supermarket aims to build on its social success.

The ‘Value worth talking about’ campaign, devised by St Luke’s, is created in the style of a mockumentary where animated fruit, veg and other food items share praise for Ocado from real customers. 

The 30-second TV spot features animations of a vegetable-laden kitchen table, with a  voiceover sharing customer satisfaction at the fact Ocado price matches “thousands of products to Tesco.com”.

The ad lands in the same week rival Asda is cutting prices on more than 2,500 household essentials as part of its ‘Big Jan Price Drop’ and Morrisons has added 500 everyday essentials to its Aldi and Lidl price match.

Running until 31 March, the ad will appear in 30-second and 10-second versions, supported by a series of 15-second and 6-second films across social channels. The campaign will also run across radio, digital display and outdoor ads at London’s Waterloo and Victoria stations.

The Value worth talking about creative is an extension of the grocer’s ‘Food for Thought’ social-only campaign. Generating a 33% engagement rate, the campaign was Ocado’s most successful on social media to date. Having worked with St Luke’s since 2020, this is the agency’s final campaign for the brand.

“Our customers know us better than anyone else, so it makes sense to hear what they love about Ocado firsthand,” says head of brand at Ocado Retail Sarah Emerson. “The animated fruit and veg add a playful, engaging touch that’s very Ocado.”

Ocado launches retail media offering

In October 2024, Ocado – which is run in partnership with M&S – was the fastest growing grocer for an eighth consecutive month, according to Kantar data.

During the 12 weeks to 3 November, Ocado topped Kantar’s growth table, boosting its sales by 9.5%. For the the 12 weeks ending 1 December, the retailer had a 1.8% share of the grocery market.

The Ocado Group’s third quarter retail revenue grew by 15.5% to £658m in the 13 weeks to 1 September, with average orders per week up 14.7% to 437,000. Volume growth rose 15.4% year-on-year, fuelled by a 10.3% rise in active customers to 1.06 million. The grocer attributed its third quarter success to a “strategy of unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value”. 

Ocado has previously said improving value perceptions is key to growth, as well as price matching to Tesco. Back in 2023, Emerson told Marketing Week measuring effectiveness is drilled into the business, adding that Ocado is “driving marketing efficiencies to improve targeting and retention of customers”.

Last year, CEO Tim Steiner claimed that a “back to the future” approach to marketing, including cutting budgets and refining tactics, is essential to customer retention.

The retailer slashed its marketing spend by a third to £20.1m in the first half of 2023 and kept spend flat during the first half of 2024 at £20.4m, as the efficiency push continued. In the first half of 2024, marketing spend as a percentage of revenue decreased slightly to 1.6%.

In September 2024, Ocado embarked on what it described as a “new chapter” in its retail journey with the launch of retail media service Ocado Ads. Speaking to Marketing Week at the time, head of Ocado Ads Jack Johnson claimed the supermarket intends to bring its “challenger mindset” into the advertising industry.