Rebrand pays off

All about image

Using South Africa's most popular soap opera was not only innovative for launching the Pep re-branding but also highly successful. Quantitative and qualitative research reveals that the brand has been revitalised its brand; it has become inspirational and is now seen as more popular and no longer as a shop for poor people.

The fact that Queen Moroka dresses in Pep clothing has made it okay for masses of people to do tha same. It's alerted their curiosity, brought them into the stores and promoted sales; it's raised the standard and given Pep shoppers more confidence. It's changed behaviour towards the brand and the new tagline, while it associates the brand with price, it adds value to perceptions through quality associations. The message that comes through from the Generations link is that Pep remains, first and foremost, a brand that offers good value for money (45%). Recall of the new tagline is 42% (compared to 26% for the old ‘lowest prices for everyone' tagline).

Top marks

To really underline that the new brand positioning is on target, the retailer has scored a 4,6% increase in its total brand relationship score in the IPSOS Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brands survey, the highest score in the clothing retailer category. Pep rates as the third most recalled clothing retail brand among all South Africans.

Pep's real advertising agency Zoom Advertising conceived and developed the idea with chain's marketing director, Marcus Banga and with the SABC Generations production team. The agency won a Roger Garlick Gold Award for innovative use of media for the concept. This is the first time a retail brand was written into the script and storyline of a leading soap opera in South Africa and was a revolutionary way to promote the new brand proposition.

New brand proposition

Following a year of intense research and development, when the specialist brand agency, Yellowwood, worked with Pep and Zoom to develop the new brand positioning so that it could reflect what customers want. In all areas of its business, Pep aims to be utterly customer focused. The process with Yellowwood helped identify and package customer segments so that future brand messages are appropriate and in line with what they want.

Pep's marketing director, Marcus Banga adds: “We needed to embrace more than a one dimensionsal brand proposition of ‘lowest prices' and deliver a value statement. In defining the business, Pep is the everyday best price variety store for family life essentials.” The retailer's mission statement to its customers is: ‘We promise you and your family everything you need to look good and feel good - at the best possible prices, backed by trusted quality and friendly service.'

In the beginning

In 1965 and with just one store, Pep began selling affordable, good quality merchandise with the aim of helping its customers to look and feel good; with black customers actually allowed to choose their merchandise in-store rather than order it over the counter.

Today, the retailer sells a diverse product range; everything from clothing and footwear for the whole family to homeware, health, wellness and beauty products, cellular, insurance, Pep ‘products to order' and more.