PAK'nSAVE's digital price check marks two years of savings

PAK'nSAVE has marked the two-year anniversary of its Top 50 Price Check campaign, a digital out-of-home advertising initiative delivered in partnership with Vistar Media. The campaign, initially launched for a six-month period, has become a permanent fixture in PAK'nSAVE's marketing activities due to ongoing results in reinforcing its price-focused reputation.

Campaign mechanics

The Top 50 Price Check campaign applies programmatic out-of-home technology to compare the prices of 50 everyday grocery items across five categories at PAK'nSAVE and Woolworths stores. The campaign uses NielsenIQ data to measure and communicate weekly savings, with messaging on digital displays tailored to the nearest store location and updated dynamically.

Throughout its duration, the campaign has delivered over 26 million impressions. The messaging strategy has used localised advertising to highlight price differences at the point where shoppers decide, aiming to encourage store loyalty through tangible savings information.

Technology integration

Through Vistar Media's programmatic platform, the campaign automates the delivery of digital creative assets to screens based on real-time pricing data and location. The campaign operates as an always-on approach, providing weekly updates that adjust offers and information to the relevant catchment area for each store.

The software automates the shift from a traditional out-of-home model to one that is data driven and responsive to market changes, allowing both advertisers and consumers to benefit from up-to-date information at a local level.

Market context

The ongoing campaign comes amid intensifying price competition within New Zealand's grocery sector. PAK'nSAVE has cited programmatic out-of-home advertising as a key component in maintaining its market position against larger budgets from rival supermarket chains.

"Our Top 50 Price Check campaign has allowed us to take PAK'nSAVE's lowest price promise and make it tangible for customers every single week. By using data to showcase real savings, we are helping shoppers make confident choices at a time when every dollar counts. Partnering with Vistar Media has given us the ability to update and serve these messages dynamically, ensuring that our advertising is always relevant to the community around each store. This localised approach has been critical to the campaign's success and has helped reinforce trust in our brand. Seeing the campaign evolve into an always-on strategy, and be recognised with an award, shows the real impact it has had not only on our marketing but on the way New Zealanders think about price leadership in grocery," said Jamie Hodgetts, Head of Marketing & CX, PAK'nSAVE & Four Square.

Industry recognition

The campaign recently received recognition in the form of a YouTube Marketing Award, which highlighted the use of dynamic creative informed by real-time data strategies. This recognition follows industry attention to how retail brands are leveraging digital technology to adapt to shifting consumer behaviours and competitive pressures in the sector.

Programmematic OOH impact

Vistar Media has underlined the campaign as a demonstration of how automation, data, and creative can support retail objectives.

"This campaign is a clear demonstration of what programmatic out-of-home can achieve when data, creative and automation come together. By dynamically serving relevant creative at scale, PAK'nSAVE has been able to consistently deliver a price message that resonates with shoppers right at the point of influence. It's a great example of how technology can transform what has traditionally been a high-cost, high-effort channel into one that is agile, measurable and impactful," said Sandra Scott, Sales and Partnerships Director, Vistar Media NZ.