Sainsbury's to put content at heart of marketing strategy

By Matthew Chapman, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Tuesday, 08 January 2013 08:00AM

Sainsbury's is to make content a central pillar of its marketing, merging its content and digital teams to deliver the strategy.

Sainsbury's: investing in content focus

Head of online marketing Joel Dawson will lead the combined team, with head of content Sarah Ellis moving across to the PR department on a temporary 'broadening assignment'.

The increasing focus on content is intended to help deliver the supermarket's 'Live well for less' brand promise to its customers.

Sainsbury's marketing director Sarah Warby told Marketing:'If you are not feeling and acting like a publisher, you are missing a massive trick.'

The decision to create the combined team comes on the back of 'phenomenal' traffic to Sainsbury's Tu clothing website, which acts as a content portal and currently has no transactional element.

Sainsbury's is making further strides into content with the development of an ad-funded TV show called What's Cooking. The 13-week series is expected to air on weekdays on Channel 4.

Ellis featured in last year's Marketing Power 100 Next Generation, which highlights the best young marketing talent in the UK.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk