BWG Foods has won gold in the innovation category at this year’s MII All Ireland Marketing (AIM) Awards, with recognition for transforming local digital marketing across its nationwide network of independent retailers. The Marketing Innovation award was won at the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Marketing Institute of Ireland at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin. The award recognised a strategic partnership between BWG Foods and SocioLocal, which fundamentally changed how social media is executed across SPAR, EUROSPAR and Londis. The initiative addressed challenges in local digital delivery, including variable content quality, inconsistent posting, and limited retailer time or resources.
BWG Foods introduced a centrally controlled model that delivers pre-approved, professional content directly to local store pages at scale. Automated posting via a mobile-first platform removed the regular burden from retailers, while maintaining brand consistency and allowing for local tailoring where appropriate. Paid media, engagement and reporting were also integrated into a single system. This helped to position social media not just as an optional task, but as a measurable commercial driver along with being an effective customer and community engagement tool.
Results showed strong adoption and sustained behaviour change, with 91% of retailers opting into consistent, automated posting from SPAR, EUROSPAR and Londis marketing teams. This resulted in average time savings of six hours per month per retailer, while retailer satisfaction reached 92%.
Commenting on the award, Suzanne Weldon, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at BWG Foods said: “This programme and partnership with SocioLocal proves that the performance of local digital content can be enhanced with innovative and simplified system-based initiatives. The positive response and results clearly show how retailers can be enabled to benefit from high-quality and consistent social media without increasing workload. It’s been really encouraging to see the scale of marketing execution and commercial impact delivered within communities across the country.”
The MII AIM Awards celebrate excellence in marketing teams, campaigns and sponsorships around Ireland. It was a successful evening all round for BWG Foods with its brands being recognised as finalists in a number of categories including SPAR for Digital Marketing Campaign, EUROSPAR in Sustainability and a new category for Cultural or Societal Sponsorship with SPAR and EUROSPAR among the selected finalists.
