BILLA Introduces Repositioning and New Advertising Line

Wiener Neudorf, 29.01.07

The repositioning and the new way BILLA sees itself will in any case affect all parts of the company.

BILLA, Austria's leading supermarket, is to unveil its new company strategy today. BILLA will introduce numerous measures associated with quality of life, responsibility, and trust directed at employees, partners, and customers. The "inner voice" (Hausverstand) will become the central figure in BILLA's new advertising line.

"The data from thorough market and motivation research and continuously changing market conditions indicate that food retailing faces major challenges in the future. With our new strategic repositioning, which we have been in the process of implementing energetically since the beginning of the year, we are remaining true to our obligations to be a leader for innovation and quality," said Mag. Volker Hornsteiner, CEO of BILLA AG, today at a press conference. After all, as Hornsteiner pointed out, Austrians will expect more from food retailers in the future than just good products at reasonable prices. Even more, they will expect more detailed information on how to eat healthily at affordable prices - without having to give up tastiness. "We will thus make a concerted effort over the next several years to face this challenge. We will continue transforming BILLA from a centre for logistics expertise into a high-quality food services centre by applying a multitude of measures - fully aware of the fact that we are only at the beginning of this undertaking."

From Price Competition to Trust Competition

BILLA will thus conscientiously lead the charge in providing Austrians with high-quality foods that are both as natural as possible and affordable, while providing expert information on how individuals can improve their quality of life. In doing so, BILLA will serve as a reliable partner to Austrians by offering exceptional expertise on all matters of food quality, enjoyment, and health. "We are convinced that we will redefine food retailing of the future with our new guidelines. We will immediately apply all our energies as we leave price competition behind us and instead compete for our customers' trust. Rather than engaging in low-price warfare, we will establish minimum quality standards that provide customers with orientation and identity, and that bolster the sense of responsibility in the company", Hornsteiner added.

Group of Experts Evaluates Similar Projects of European Food Retailers

There are already several approaches throughout Europe in which supermarkets support their customers in improving their quality of life with targeted projects. A group of high-profile experts led by university professor Dr. Anita Rieder at the Institute for Social Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna is subjecting all these projects to a detailed analysis for BILLA. The results of this international study will be presented to the public in the spring; subsequently, further measures for implementing the new strategy will be developed, reviewed, and developed anew. Hornsteiner notes, "We are well aware that changes of this magnitude will not occur from one day to the next. They constitute part of a medium- to long-term process during which we also will continue to learn more. Yet the central focus will always be on the quality of life for each individual, on responsibility, and on trust." The repositioning and the new way BILLA sees itself will in any case affect all parts of the company. The first broadly discernible measures are:

• Healthy Choices: "If You Want to Snack, Eat Right"

The foods offered at the checkout counter are traditionally full of caloric energy. Starting at the end of February, BILLA will thus offer healthy alternatives to these traditional snacks near the cash register and identify them distinctly.

• New Employee Uniforms

All employees at all stores will begin wearing new employee uniforms starting on January 16. These new outfits were designed at the Hetzendorf Fashion Academy with the participation of employees and consideration for their needs. The new uniforms are more comfortable, more practical, and - above all - more fashionable. This not only makes the employees feel better, it is also a clearly visible indication of positive changes within BILLA for the whole world to see.

• Employee Training Offensive

Food expertise for BILLA also means becoming a magnet and vocational training centre for highly qualified and motivated employees. Great efforts for offering training and continuing education to employees will thus be undertaken over the coming months. Several examples include the new BILLA apprenticeship concept in which employees who have completed the three-year apprenticeship can sit for an additional vocational examination for the certification Bürokaufmann (office clerk), the option for entering the future management trainee pool, support for the trade examination, or the offer to study the subject "trade management" at the European University for Applied Sciences in Brühl. The specialist courses for both employees and store managers/assistants have been considerably expanded in particular in the fields of freshness, hygiene, and quality as well as in the field of personal training (self management, employee training and continuing education, employee leadership, employee motivation).

• BILLA Stores: The Greatest Restructuring Offensive Ever

As for its stores, BILLA is planning to implement the greatest restructuring efforts in its history. Over the next year, over 60 BILLA stores will be renovated according to modern standards, and this restructuring offensive will be continued in following years. The main focus of these general renovations will lie on the metropolitan areas in eastern Austria above all. A redesigned lighting concept with additional reflectors will provide optimal lighting for the whole store, and the introduction of the most modern designs using new materials - such as Plexiglas, Nirosta, or artificial stone tiles - will create the foundation for a uniquely pleasant shopping experience in the supermarket segment.

• Preference for Austrian Suppliers and a Supplier Innovation Prize

"If we are now to shift our focus with regard to our customers entirely from price competition towards trust competition, then the same also applies to our suppliers", adds Josef Siess, Director of the Management Board BILLA AG. Aside from the fact that BILLA will have an even greater "preference for Austrian suppliers" in the future, BILLA also aims to collaborate on even terms with suppliers to create the optimum framework conditions for innovation. After the expert group completes its evaluation, BILLA will proceed to introduce its own supplier innovation prize.

• New Advertising Line: "BILLA, Choice of the Inner Voice"

The new advertising line being rolled out today is also fully oriented towards the new strategy. The centrepiece is a figure that everyone knows but who is not famous by conventional standards: the "inner voice". Josef Siess: "We all have an inner voice that knows perfectly well what is good for us and what isn't. Our new advertising campaign concentrates on this inner voice, which we are calling 'Hausverstand'. We personify this character and invite our customers to think about it. The advertising line for our electronic media campaign will be entirely focused on 'Hausverstand'; the print advertisements and fliers will of course round out the 'Hausverstand' idea with specific product offers." Siess is confident that this communication approach - entirely new for a supermarket - will be very well received among Austrians.

Contact

REWE GROUP-Corporate Communications
Tel.: 0221 - 149-1050
E-Mail: presse(at)rewe-group.com

Contact