Opportunities: Position Wegmans as offering customers “best value” in terms of low price, high quality. Introduce Wegmans Shoppers Club Card, which created new marketing opportunities on which competitors could not capitalize.
Challenges: Competitors were also aggressively promoting low prices. Customers did not understand club card programs.
Solutions: Directed the development of an array of programs that blended newspaper, TV, and radio advertising, capitalizing on each medium’s strengths, and used extensive in-store display sign advertising. Spearheaded the use of “stealth advertising” programs, for targeted, customer-specific offers delivered via direct mail—Wegmans’ best customers were rewarded for their loyalty, and good customers received incentives to increase their loyalty.
Results: Wegmans’ market shares increased quickly and solidified at the expense of their competitor’s.
