Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Argos, Ann Summers and Tesco

Argos advert banned by the ASA

Argos has been censured for a promotion which falsely boasted a discount on refrigerators, The Belfast Telegraph reported. The claim, on www.argos.co.uk, said customers could ‘save up to 20% on all refrigeration’. However, a customer said that not all products in the refrigeration range had been discounted and challenged the savings claim.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint, stating the advert must not feature again in its current form. The original promotion said all items in the Argos refrigeration range had been lowered, and they supplied spreadsheet data showing the price of each product prior to the promotion and the discounted price at the time of the promotion.

The ASA noted that, although some were not displayed with a discount or savings message, it featured that all the products in the refrigeration range had been reduced and that more than 10% were reduced by the 20% headline saving. Because the website referred to discounts on ‘all’ items, the ASA said that consumers would need to know what discount applied to each product in order to make an informed choice about which product to select.

Ann Summers taps Propaganda to broaden business appeal

Ann Summers has hired Propaganda and given the agency a brief for branding, industry trends and to help the business to widen its appeal to existing consumers and new markets, The Drum reported. The agency will look to assist the retailer in driving the business to the next level and place the company for an age of multichannel retail. Propaganda will look at where Ann Summers fits in the market and going forward, will be advising the brand on strategy.

Tesco awards Amscreen five year contract for dynamic screen product

Amscreen has secured a five year national contract with Tesco to deliver dynamic advertising opportunities throughout the supermarket giant’s 450 petrol stations in the UK, Media Week reported. Tesco’s network will be the first to nationally implement Amscreen’s new OptimEyes screens. Based on till transactions, Tesco anticipated that the real time digital media network has the capability to reach at least 5 million adults per week, with its dynamic content at point of purchase.

Tesco’s data specialist, Dunnhumby, pioneers of Tesco’s ClubCard, will mesh customer insights into Amscreen’s network for the development of the network’s customer engagement. The digital network will offer ad-financed branded content around news, weather and sports, as well as display advertising opportunities, all sold via managing director Jamie Lindsay’s team at Amscreen.