In today's Marketing magazine, editor Claire Beale writes about our current (example above) Tesco press activity.

She says,

"The ads are all about how Tesco is cleaning up its food-supply chain, and as a piece of brand communication they have enormous clout as they contain lots of words; until you see an ad with lots of words, you don't realise how far they have fallen out of fashion. And these are well-written words. They give Tesco a real voice, and even the beginnings of some personality. They imply a respect for its audience, perhaps (finally) some empathy and certainly some humility.

It's such a crucial time for the Tesco brand; its reputation has perhaps never been more vulnerable. The severity of the situation demands something bold and brave and the ads hit that target. These are not 140 character bullets fired off by someone in Tesco's PR department for whom the customer is a hazy sideshow… The press ads feel like the result of a clear understanding that relationships are built on proper dialogue where you say what you need to say…and you credit your audience with the capacity to absorb more than simply a soundbite.

In reviving the dying art of long-copy advertising, Tesco might just have started on the road to rebuilding its brand."

We developed this ad for Tesco, which ran in the press at the end of last week and over the weekend.

Copy enlarged to make it easier to read:

Here's a reaction from today's Evening Standard: an analysis of the rhetorical structure by an English professor from Cambridge University. I think he's being complimentary. Thanks, Dr Burlinson.