Advertising agencies, no matter how large their budgets for a campaign will never beat the mighty "Word of Mouth". Such a simple yet highly plausible act of marketing, as friends and strangers alike certainly have a way of influencing decisions. Perhaps advertising agencies should build fake friends and throw them into the pubs and clubs around Britain, in an attempt to raise their brands influence, maybe they already have...
In the wake of the recent foreboding news that Tesco's are planning to increase their prices, word of mouth has never been a more capable supremacy of influence.
Had you asked me two years ago where I did my shopping, I'd rather happily convey (with a certain look and air of smug) that I tend to shop in Waitrose and M&S stores. This was back when working in advertising, ones food expense didn't really matter too much, as I confidently knew the next influx of heavy cash was waiting for me on the horizon.
Now, as a fulltime advocate and player of the freelancing world, I need to keep a keen eye on the pennies. Tesco had always been my store of choice, as not only are they the most proliferate of supermarkets, with one of their metro stores opening up on your front lawn, but I am also quite the fan of their finest range of Devonshire fudge yogurts, what can I say, I'm a sucker for the taste of home! Be that as it may, it was by word of mouth that I discovered the utter supermarket joy, that stands shoulder to shoulder with the industries giants. You leave it feeling not that they robbed you, but as if you had robbed them! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, Aldi.
I am, with all intend and purposes, a complete snob, I have snobby friends, whom together we partake in all manner of recreational snob-like things; for instance; just the other day a whole bunch of us carted ourselves to Oxford and enjoyed an afternoon of high tea and Thames river putting. So it is surprising that one of these fellow vertical nostril types, pointed me in the direction of the Kilburn High Road, which as I live in Queens Park is a brisk 10 minute walk. I was amazed. The food in Aldi is almost half the price that you would expect to pay in stores such as Waitrose and M&S. Of course, there are the draw backs; such as they don't sell the ingredients that you might be asked to get in Gordon Ramsey's latest kitchen worktop flour collector. But for the day to day, the "cooking for yourself" essentials, Aldi is excellent.
To prove this contention I brought the entire ingredients for a Sunday roast staring a large chicken, stuffing, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, gravy, broccoli and cauliflower for less than £7. Apart from the gravy being a little too salty, it was indistinguishable from what one might expect from M&S. Now, if that isn't worth subsiding your class prejudgments and proof of a worthy advocate to the powers of "Word of Mouth" then I don't know what is.