The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2024
ALDI said 'shop ALDI first', not 'switch' — and won the cost-of-living basket.
In a cost-of-living crisis ALDI stopped asking households to switch and instead asked them to do their ALDI trip first, as 'supermarket polygamy'.
ALDI Australia
the move
Discount supermarkets want shoppers who buy their basket at the discount store, but Australians are attached to a main supermarket and do not switch for a price promise. The obvious pitch, 'switch and save', is a hard, loyalty-laden ask.
ALDI and BMF reframed the role rather than the brand: 'Shop ALDI First'. Do your ALDI staples run first, then finish the shop wherever you usually go — what the category branded as supermarket polygamy.
The insight was to treat the smaller range not as a weakness but as permission: a first, cheap trip is easy precisely because it is not asking you to give up your normal store. It uses the everyday cost-of-living pressure to make a big saving feel effortless.
Judges called it a compelling lesson in standing out from competitors, praising how ALDI repositioned a perceived weakness into a strength and turned known truths into trustworthy positioning, with ROI that exceeded its KPIs.
why it works
- It replaces a hard 'switch' ask with a cheap add-on behaviour
- It turns the smaller range into a feature (fast, low-friction first stop)
- It leaves the incumbent habit intact, so resistance drops
- A weak position is flipped into a strength rather than hidden
what transfers
When the ask is too big, shrink it. Create a slot inside the behaviour people already have: a cheaper first stop leaves the existing habit intact, so the barrier disappears and the win compounds.
what came after
The campaign won the Grand Effie at the 2024 Australian Effie Awards plus three golds, and BMF took home 16 shortlists — the highest of any agency that year. The judges highlighted the strong ROI delivered against its KPIs, and ALDI was also named Effective Advertiser of the Year.
references
- BMF Australia crowned Effective Agency of the Year at the 2024 Australian Effie Awards; ALDI wins Grand Effie for 'Shop ALDI First'
- BMF named Effective Agency of the Year at the 2024 Effie Awards, wins Grand Effie for Shop ALDI First
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