Fresh Ideas magazine

Launched in Autumn 2005, Fresh Ideas was circulated as a customer loyalty magazine for regular, high-spending users of Sainsbury's Nectar card. Issued quarterly, the magazine used Nectar card data to target core demographics, and was mailed out accordingly. It features the strapline 'Try Something New Today'.

When Fresh Ideas was launched, it used Nectar card data to divide recipients into three groups: those with families, those without and baby-boomers. For each issue, the cover and 16 of the 100 editorial pages were tailored to suit the separate groups. In Spring 2006, this was supported by a mailing campaign called 'Connections' which was designed to target Sainsbury's customers with relevant promotions on the products they buy. At the time, Sainsbury's strongly denied that the new scheme meant the end of its partnership with the Nectar scheme, which had been in the spotlight as a number of its partners (including Vodafone and Barclaycard) had left the scheme. By 2006, Fresh Ideas was sent sent out to 1.5m Nectar card customers who regularly used their cards in store.

In Spring 2010, Fresh Ideas was relaunched to aim at two key demographics: families with school-aged children, and child-free homes. The magazine was redesigned to resemble a news-stand title, with content including articles about food, fashion and home, as well as health and nutrition and information on dealing with food intolerances. The magazine began to include more mentions of Sainsbury's products and promotions, alongside stronger advocacy messages. In addition, a regular feature by celebrity chef and brand ambassador Jamie Oliver was included. In March 2010, in the latest circulation figures by ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations), Fresh Ideas ranked seventh in the customer magazines sector with a circulation of 1,499,244.

The magazine was created and published by Seven Publishing.

Editors:
Jan Boxshall, 2005-2010
Helen Renshaw, 2010

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