Sainsbury’s 2011 Christmas advert will draw down the curtain on hugely successful 11-year association between chef and supermarket.
After over 11 years and over 100 television advertisements, not to mention numerous behind-the-scenes projects both with colleagues and on products, the successful partnership between Sainsbury’s and Jamie Oliver will end with a final Christmas advertising campaign.
The decision has been made because both parties feel that it’s the right time to move on, especially as Oliver seeks to spend more time on his social projects through The Jamie Oliver Foundation both in the UK and abroad.
Justin King, Sainsbury’s CEO, added: “Jamie has been an excellent ambassador for the Sainsbury’s brand over the last 11 years, spearheading our goal to offer our customers fresh and tasty food, whilst maintaining strong ethical standards. In our industry, it has been one of the most successful and mutually rewarding partnerships ever.
“From our ‘Feed your family for a fiver’ campaign to our recent ‘Switch the fish’ initiative, Jamie, through his passion for food and cooking, has helped Sainsbury’s deliver industry leading campaigns which have resonated strongly with customers. We wish him well as we both look forward to exciting new projects in the months and years to come.”
Jamie Oliver said: “It’s been a fantastic 11 years and together we have achieved some great things. I’ve made some great friends at Sainsbury’s and I know we’ll still be talking for years to come. They’ve got some very good people, from the top right down to the shop-floor. The way they take on challenges – like their commitment to sourcing higher welfare products, such as chicken and eggs – is something to be proud of. I’ll miss them but it’s a good time to move on.”
The Christmas campaign, still under wraps, will ensure Sainsbury’s and Jamie Oliver end their partnership in style.
Enquiries
For more information and photography please contact the press office on 020 7695 7295. To find out the latest from Sainsbury’s you can also follow J Sainsbury plc on Twitter.
Jamie Oliver: Peter Berry – [email protected] or 07966 492652
Notes to Editors
Sainsbury’s & Jamie
‘Feed Your Family For A Fiver’, launched in March 2008, has been one of Sainsbury’s most successful Jamie-fronted campaigns seeing sales uplifts of anything from 10% to 200% on featured lines. The product that really excelled was Sainsbury’s basics Freedom Food salmon fillets which saw an increase in sales of 500% following a TV ad featuring Jamie making fishcakes with the product. The campaign delivered more than £200m in sales overall and also helped improve Sainsbury’s overall value perception.
In 2005, a Sainsbury’s Try Something New Today TV advert showing Jamie grating nutmeg over Spaghetti Bolognese led to the supermarket selling 9 metric tonnes of nutmeg which is the equivalent to 2 years supply, due to high customer demand. This led to weekly sales going from 1400 jars of nutmeg to 6000 – an uplift of over 400%.
Sainsbury’s have supported Comic Relief for 6 years with Jamie as an ambassador each year. In 2011, the advertising campaign helped Sainsbury’s deliver a cheque worth £11.4m to this fantastic charity; and over the 11 year relationship with Jamie a grand total of £60m has been awarded to Comic Relief.
‘Switch the fish’, June 2011 – with Jamie’s help, over 40,000 samples of one of six alternative fish species were given out by counter colleagues across Sainsbury’s stores
Jamie Oliver
Jamie’s social projects include his work with the Fifteen apprenticeship programme; successful Ministry of Food Centres, and Kitchen Gardens for primary schools.
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