“Easter is cheaper at Lidl,” reports Lidl’s new advertising campaign. It hits the rival Penny Market, which claims that it is the cheapest to buy from in the long term.
The first price comparison was carried out by Lidl last October, the second this January. So far, the most recent comparison took place on March 4 at two Prague stores, Lidl and Penny Market, for a total of 29 common products – mainly private brands and food, which, according to Lidl, people buy in the Easter period.
At the same time, it was not a matter of goods in a discount campaign, nor were loyalty programs taken into account according to Lidl. Although the company states that it carried out the comparison shopping itself, the key features and prices of the purchased goods were verified by a notary.
Lidl directly advises that the aim of the comparison was to show that the prices for the selected goods on the day under review were the most advantageous in its store. However, he did not provide a comparison with other chains operating on the Czech market.
He graduates with the March result with the sentence “For the third time, comparison shopping came out supremely cheapest in Lidl”. And connects the sports score 3:0.
Source: Lidl
How about the Penny Market? “We do not comment on the marketing actions of competing chains in more detail. This also applies to cases where one of them chooses a part of the products that is advantageous for him at the moment – for price or other comparisons,” says his spokesman Tomáš Kubík.
Looking in more detail at the March comparison of goods, it is evident that the price differences for selected products from Lidl compared to Penny are not significant. Although Lidl is indeed cheaper in most cases, the prices differ only by tens of pennies and are often identical. The total difference of 29 items is 58 crowns.
Comparative advertising is legally permissible if it does not deceive, compares objectively identical goods and does not belittle does not profit unfairly, reminds lawyer Veronika Odrobinová from Grant Thornton.
“In this regard, an advertising campaign is possible Easter is cheaper in Lidl there are several things to point out,” Odrobinová points out.
Right from the start, according to her, Lidl states that it is “for you a symbol of the highest quality at the most favorable price, and not only in the category Fruits and vegetables.” However, in the March comparison, Lidl explicitly states that this product is not included in the comparison. “This contradiction can create misconceptions and expectations in customers,” believes the lawyer.
Odrobinová also highlights the fact that Lidl compares different goods in each round and with a different context.
According to her, the chain also applies its “cheapness” to the entire Easter period, according to the slogan, although the comparison was made quite a long time before Easter, and the information does not indicate that it will check prices throughout the holidays.
“The fact that Lidl displays the logo of Penny’s competitor and in the context of the 3:0 mark as in football, the court could consider it as the mentioned disparagement,” adds Odrobinová.
This is not the first time Lidl has done this. This year, Lidl started a similar price war in Poland with competitor Biedronka. In this case, too, he used the twist “3:0 victory over Biedronka” in the campaign. Biedronka subsequently sent an SMS to customers in which it compared “its own low prices with expensive competition”.
In the Czech Republic, in addition to Penny, Lidl also compared its prices with the Albert chain last year. He also used comparative advertising in Slovakia, but there he encountered the Advertising Council, a self-regulatory industry association.
According to marketing specialist Filip Novák, author of the Ask Filip project, from a marketing point of view, the “Lidl is cheaper” campaign is an example of a consistent communication approach that helps strengthen the brand.
“Price comparison can be an effective advertising tactic, but it is essential that it is carried out transparently and with respect for objectivity in order for the brand to maintain the trust and loyalty of its customers,” believes Novák.
“It’s like Lidl buys regular products, but no one cares how they pre-ordered them. I can imagine that if we were to analyze the shopping baskets of different customer segments, we would very quickly arrive at several very different shopping baskets,” the expert points out.
“A comparison would probably then show the truth of such strong general statements of the type Easter is cheaper in Lidl. In itself, there is nothing wrong with this slogan, but the context in which this slogan is used, i.e. compared to the competition, where Lidl determines the rules, what will be specifically compared, does not strike me as objective behavior in advertising,” adds Novák.
Pavla Adamcová
At Peníze.cz, he mainly writes about consumer topics. She started in 2006 at Hospodářské noviny, a year later she joined the economics editorial office of Aktuálně.cz, where she worked with breaks for ten years, and for the last year she also… Other articles by the author.
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