Nando's first US branch in Washington, DC

I was engaging in some retail therapy at a local store in a suburban Cape holiday beach town near my home last week when I was collared by one of the members of staff looking for some marketing insight. Apparently I epitomised their new market focus: not a teeny bopper, and not "er... almost dead". He wanted to know whether I felt comfortable shopping there - as in, were there items I found to my taste, or did I find the lines "too old"? He explained that they were starting to fill the gap between the young surfer gear and older polyester granny garments with the introduction of some new lines. Now, going off on a tangent here (but I promise it winds back to my point), the new Nando's ad is getting its fair share of down-in-the-mouth commentary on our message boards. One being: "What happened to Nando's being the social commentary we have come to love? I think it is a big move away from the innovative finger-on-the-pulse of the nation strategy...." I, for one, won't share my personal views on the ad - my sense of humour being as dark and base as Naomi Campbell's foundation - although I did find it typical of Nando's brand of seeing-eye-dog-walks-blind-granny-into-pole humour. So, while some locals will laugh hysterically and others will argue that Nando's has deviated from their original strategy, I reckon this ad may well, on a whole, go down a storm in Nando's new target market in the US. As the marketer I chatted to was saying, it's all about getting to know your markets (however diverse) and bridging the gap. Sometimes it works first time, sometimes it takes longer - as for the ad, I'll let you decide.

Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor All retail news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive.