ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

Business Acumen: Tesco benefits from social media coverage

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By Molly Jamieson CA

13 July 2021

ICAS Lecturer, Molly Jamieson CA, considers the impact of social media upon advertising and relates this to themes discussed within the Business Acumen (BA) course.

You may have recently seen a Tesco advert reading ‘Pubs have had it tough this year. So, as good as our deals are, this week we would rather you support your local pub (as long as you feel safe to do so). Because right now, #EveryLittleHelps.’

Tesco have since been praised via the media for urging the public to support local as lockdown restrictions ease, instead of buying products in their stores. The local hospitality industry has been severely impacted by coronavirus restrictions and there is no doubt that this advert would have been greatly appreciated by landlords across the country. In this learning blog, we consider the advertising aims as discussed within the Test of Competence (TC) Business Acumen (BA) course, by exploring the aims of Tesco in this example.

Consumer advertising

In BA, we learn that advertising allows for the promotion of products or services and can be carried out via a wealth of different sources. For example, via the television, newspapers, or social media. The type of advertising utilised by Tesco in the example above is consumer advertising – that is, advertising that is targeted directly from the company to the consumer. In this case, whilst the original advertisement was shared within the newspapers, the majority of media support for this campaign came via online sources and social media, which resulted in the message reaching a much wider audience.

Advertising is a powerful source used by companies to strengthen their brand image. However, it can be costly, especially large newspaper adverts in national newspapers. This form of advertising is commonly only used by large companies, such as Tesco, who can afford to do so. Newspapers also may have a certain or specific target audience, which is likely to be more limited than that of the wider social media audience. Social media is a cheaper alternative and can reach a larger audience due to the limited barriers of use. The social media coverage of this particular advert, whether intentional or not, allowed this message to reach millions across the country.

Promotional prizes

Another story that hit the press regarding Tesco, was that online shoppers were shocked to find that some of their weekly purchases had been substituted for brand new iPhones or AirPods, free of charge. These were part of a new promotion that was being run by Tesco and the swaps were available exclusively to Tesco’s click and collect customers as a ‘thank you’ gesture.

This promotion serves several purposes.

1. Increasing the usage of the click and collect service

The promotion could incentivise customers that use click and collect services at another supermarket to use the Tesco service instead to try and win one of the prizes. By increasing the usage of click and collect, this could remove some of the footfall into store, allowing Tesco to save on staff costs.

2. Turning negative press into positive press

Supermarket click and collect substitutions that were maybe slightly more unusual have hit the press in recent years, for example shoppers ordering salmon and getting cat food. It is therefore a topical issue, however, whilst the substitutions that were highlighted in the past were unwanted, customers would be thrilled to get a new phone instead of their pasta. The nature of this positive substitution could hit the press and increase popularity in the store, with the prospect of increasing revenue.

The high-valued substitutions would also be appreciated by customers after a hard year, so again may serve to increase the popularity in the store and increase customer loyalty.

3. Gaining social media attention

News of the substitute prizes could explode onto social media, providing the supermarket further free advertisement. So, although a promotion that centres around providing new phones and other prizes may be costly, advertisements are more so.

Colin vs Cuthbert

Supermarkets and social media have again emerged as a popular trend in recent months, with the news that Marks & Spencer were taking Aldi to court over similarities between the beloved Colin the Caterpillar cake versus Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar. Twitter latched onto this topic, with several other brands jumping to Aldi’s aid. This has worked to increase the popularity in cakes for both parties, with social media highlighting various taste tests between all the caterpillar cakes on the market.

Advertising is key to business success, but it is evident that consumer advertising has experienced change in recent years in direct correlation with the growth of social media.

2-23-totumpro 2-23-totumpro
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: