The Finnish arm of global discount supermarket chain Lidl has been awarded a prestigious marketing accolade for a recent campaign that saw fresh fruit and vegetable sales increase by 47.5%.

Photo: Daniel Foster, via Flickr Creative Commons

The marketing campaign was based on a 'doubting Thomas' character and theme featured in a series of television commercials playing with preconceptions around fresh produce.

The Effie Awards Finland, part of the international industry Effie Awards that recognize the best in communications and marketing, honored the Lidl Finland campaign with both a Grand Effie and a Gold Effie.

Behind the scenes is Finnish advertising agency Folk Finland and creative media agency Mediatoimisto Happi, which teamed up with the retailer to work on the campaign.

A statement from supermarket chain sent to www.freshfruitportal.com says the aim of the campaign was to increase sales in the fruit and vegetable sector, gain new customers and generally encourage Finnish consumers to buy the retailer's low-cost fresh produce.

Purchasing director Timo Hansio was pleased with the campaign's results.

"It is great to see that an image addressing preconceptions can transmit the right message and substantially increase the sale of the product group," he told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"The Grand Effie award is a wonderful recognition to our whole team for all the work done in the last years."

www.freshfruitportal.com