Shoppers filling the trolley with pride

Progressive Enterprises' Celebrate New Zealand campaign kicks off again this month - and it's going to be bigger and better then last year's.

That's straight from the horse's mouth - or rather managing director Richard Umbers - as he discusses the third year of the campaign.

Umbers said it had been a deliberate ongoing process to set the framework and build the messages up year by year.

Most New Zealanders were proud of the country they lived in and the campaign gave the company a chance to help them celebrate that.

Of course, there are spin-offs for the business too, hopefully in terms of improved till takings, but Umbers said it was hard to put a dollar value on the campaign.

When Foodtown and Woolworths stores joined forces under the Progressive Enterprises banner in 2002, Progressive promised the merger would provide the power to ensure more competitive pricing and a better range of products for consumers.

The marketing department was given the task of devising a programme that highlighted the benefits of the merger to households.

Celebrate New Zealand was born.

Launched in February 2003, the programme was developed to focus consumers' attention on all the good things produced by New Zealand manufacturers and suppliers.

Research had shown people were keen to support local products and services where they could, but there had been little co-ordinated focus on that area, especially in the supermarket industry.

An opportunity was seen to change that.

And for those who are wondering - 57 per cent of products stocked at Foodtown, Woolworths and Countdown supermarkets are produced here. New Zealand-produced is defined as products made from entirely local ingredients, or a combination of imported and local ingredients.

Umbers said it was also agreed that to succeed, any marketing programme needed community support at household shopper level - a long-term programme (five years) was needed because one-off promotions would not be enough.

Any marketing programme promoting New Zealand products needed to start small and build according to an agreed strategic plan and that was happening.

The programme needed to be simple, straightforward and easy to understand; Foodtown and Woolworths could accomplish this by talking in tones of "proudly in New Zealand"; any campaign or promotion needed to have a fundamental pro-New Zealand stance with positive messages about the country and its citizens.

Celebrate New Zealand has become the USP (unique selling point) the new Foodtown Woolworths promotion is based on.

It tells the consumer that Foodtown Woolworths is "proudly in New Zealand" employing Kiwis for the benefit of numerous local businesses and products that deserve the support of shoppers.

Celebrate New Zealand launched in 2003 with a week-long focus on local products in Foodtown and Woolworths stores with a list of goals:

* Build a solid platform for the initiative in the minds of consumers, staff, suppliers and the media.

* Create activities that can be grown and adapted in years to come.

* Establish Celebrate NZ as a significant event in the minds of New Zealanders and one that is worth supporting.

* Create activities that generate sales by maximising goodwill, excitement and opportunity for all parties involved.

* Use experience to grow the event and tie in additional partners as the programme matures.

* Establish the event in the diaries of all journalists, particularly food and wine writers.

* Use feedback to determine whether the promotion should be supported and grown in the future.

This year, there are new goals and a commitment to growing the campaign and its message.

The campaign works primarily in the supermarket aisle with customer promotions and special competitions. It also includes demonstrations and tastings of local food and wine, free "Give It A Go" Maori language booklets and an art competition for the young.

Umbers doesn't plan to stop here - the campaign will return next year with new initiatives and an even higher profile.