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Supermarket’s falling prices – and ‘falling’ billboard – go viral

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

British supermarket chain’s lop-sided billboard emphasises falling prices. But locals thought the billboard was about to fall too.

When the marketing team at Waitrose, a British supermarket chain, commissioned a lop-sided billboard in a London suburb to emphasise its falling prices, it hoped to attract some attention from local shoppers.

Waitrose via X

 

But they got a lot more attention than they bargained for at the weekend when the billboard went viral and was seen by people throughout Britain, and even further afield. 

 

The OOH campaign shows an arrow facing downwards and surrounded by an array of grocery items. The payoff line is “New lower prices on hundreds of your favourites”. To highlight the downward spiral of prices at Waitrose, the billboard was mounted on a wall at an angle. 

 

So far so good. Until a member of the public spotted the lop-sided billboard, thought it was about to fall, and alerted local authorities. Workers from Wandsworth council rushed to the scene and cordoned off the immediate area with red-and-white emergency fencing. 

 

Opportunity to leverage the campaign 

 

Spotting an opportunity to leverage their OOH campaign, the Waitrose marketing team took to X (formerly Twitter). In a post, which tagged the council, it said: “Thanks for the swift action, but while our prices are falling rapidly, our billboard certainly isn’t!” 

 

Soon the council workers were back at the scene, this time to remove the safety cordon. 

 

A Wandsworth council spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper: “We were alerted to this unusual advert by a concerned member of the public and, while we could see it might be deliberately set up to look that way, we thought it better not take any chances with public safety, so put up some barriers to be on the safe side. 

 

“Once we’d spoken to Waitrose and established it was designed to look this way we removed the barriers straight away.” 

 

The result for the Waitrose OOH campaign? Coverage by traditional media outlets and social media platforms throughout Britain … and even as far afield as Africa! 

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    Dr Kin Kariisa

    Group CEO - Next Media

    Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
    With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
    Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.

    Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.

    Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.

    • Other current and previous roles played by Dr Kin Kariisa:
    • Lecturer of e-Government and Information Security to graduate students at Makerere University, Kampala and Radbond University in the Netherlands
    • Director of Eco Bank Uganda Limited, one of the largest banks in Africa
    • Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, an umbrella industry association for all Television, Radio and online broadcasters in Uganda.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Nile Hotel International, that owns the leading hotel in Uganda, Kampala Serena Hotel.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Soliton Telmec Uganda, the leading telecom company in Optic fibre business managing over 80% of optic fibre in Uganda.