Albany, one of South Africa’s most recognised brands for over 50 years, is turning the tables on expectations of an aspired picture-perfect life and encouraging more people to celebrate their ‘realness’ with its refreshed brand positioning.
“Albany is bringing ‘real’ back to life and reminding South Africans that bread is at the centre of some of the most beautiful but simple everyday moments, even in the not-so-good times,” says Lorraine de Graaff, Marketing Director, Bakeries, Tiger Brands.
“Whether it’s indulging in a perfectly made sandwich, mopping up the last bits of gravy with a fresh slice of bread or knowing you can always rely on a fresh loaf when loadshedding strikes unexpectedly, Albany is the perfect bread for an imperfect world bread,” says de Graaff.
“Albany is the largest of Tiger Brands’ Billion Rand brands and the market leader in terms of brand equity, volume, and value market share in the bread category. To maintain this leadership position and grow in the highly competitive local bread category, Tiger Brands recognises the importance of ensuring the Albany brand is rejuvenated in a way that is clearly differentiated from other brands, and even for meaningful for consumers in order to deliver sustainable long-term growth and remain true to our purpose to nourish and nurture more lives every day,” says Zayd Abrahams, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Tiger Brands.
“To secure new sources of growth, it’s important for us to position the Albany brand in accordance with the needs and demands of our consumers, especially in the challenging economic environment that the country finds itself in,” says de Graaff.
Through a series of interactive workshops with consumers, it became clear the brand’s position should be centered on the idea of BRINGING REAL BACK TO LIFE.
“When we look at the bread category, we see unrealistic expectations of perfectionism in society reflected through communications and overall representation of people, life, and bread. The bread category perpetuates this in their picture-perfect curation of everyday life and bread moments that don’t reflect reality.
“Albany challenges this stereotype by holding up and celebrating ‘real’ – real people, real bread moments and real life,” says de Graaff.
“A key part of this ‘real’ is that Albany offers good quality, fresh bread, that is the core foundation for Albany consumers’ real life demands and real bread moments, even the ‘messy’ ones.
“In this way, Albany is for everyone. People whose lives are not perfect every day, but can embrace the joy in their realness, and see the good in every day. A day that includes an Albany bread moment is already a good day. Albany, Bringing Real Back to Life.”
In the last year, the Tiger Brands Bakery management team have set out to execute a five-year strategic roadmap for Bakeries aimed at driving volume growth and strengthening the business’ position through innovation, among others.
The introduction of a new brand positioning for Albany is one of the focus areas for Tiger Brands as the company works to grow volume in the general trade while maintaining the momentum in gaining market share in the competitive top-end grocer segment. The Bakery category is also benefitting from a focused capex rollout programme at key bakeries with investments to drive innovation and automation and improve efficiencies.
Over the past decade, Tiger Brands has invested around R9,6 billion in capital to expand capacity and improve operational efficiencies in its Bakery business. This included investments in building new Bakeries in Pietermaritzburg and Bellville in Cape Town.
