Aldi sign

Since opening its first stores in Australia 15 years ago, German-headquartered discounter Aldi has almost doubled its advertising spend in Australia in 2015, reports Fairfax.

Aldi Australia spent A$28.9m in television, print, radio and online advertising in 2015 – a far cry from the days its only advertising was in the form of weekly catalogues.

Meanwhile, leading retailer Coles and Woolworths have cut back on marketing by 25 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively. According to Nielsen’s Advertising information Service figures, Coles’ marketing budget fell to A$53.6m last year, while Woolworths’ dropped to A$87.9m.

'Marketing has been a part of Aldi Australia's business since we opened our first stores in Australia in 2001,” an Aldi Australia spokesperson told Fairfax. “It began with our catalogue, which continues to be a priority channel, withmany of our loyal customers eagerly awaiting its arrival each week to see what special buys are about to appear in store.

'The scope of our program has expanded over the course of the last 15 years to include TV, digital, outdoor and radio, in line with our major competitors.'

'Our campaigns are designed to tell our customers about the great value we offer, our fresh food credentials, and work with communities and organisations around Australia.”

Aldi opened its first store in South Australia this week, with a further 15 expected to open in the state by the end of 2016.