Every week, Amárach and Future Proof Insights share exclusive findings from their PRIZM+ ad testing service, showcasing best practice creative advertising in Ireland.

SuperValu’s latest campaign, “The Difference is Real,” aims to showcase the retailer’s expertise and quality, through the lens of wine in this case.

The 30-second execution takes us to the vineyards with SuperValu’s wine expert Kevin O’Callaghan.

It positions him, and SuperValu, as a trusted guide behind the shelves, sourcing wines from world-class producers.

The creative tone is observational, calm, and authentic, leaning on Kevin’s credibility rather than dramatisation.

Framed through differentiation, this approach signals that while many supermarkets sell you your groceries, SuperValu deliver a uniquely high-quality selection, one that is worth paying for, because "The Difference Is Real".

The learning here is that brand differentiation isn't built on telling people the reasons why you're different; it's on showing them the 'how and 'who' behind the products that sit on their shelves.

This positions SuperValu as a quality retailer with a difference, demonstrating care and expertise in sourcing that others cannot claim, making the difference tangible and worth paying attention to.

Our neuroscience data shows that the ad opens strongly.

Early brand mentions in the voiceover spark a flurry of brain activity, with viewers quickly encoding the SuperValu name alongside the wine category context.

Scenes of Kevin tasting and selecting wines deliver clear spikes in Desire and Impact, showing the audience responds when expertise is made tangible.

However, one watch point is that some of the longer mid-sections of vineyard montage lose some energy, with Engagement dipping until the narrative pivots back to people and payoff.

The final end-card achieves memorisation but risks overload by stacking multiple cues in quick succession.

For marketers, the insight is that balance matters: bring the brand in early, keep the middle sectionslively with smallhuman touches, and close with a simple, clear cue.

This ensures the audience not only understands the claim but also remembers it in the moments that drive shopping behaviour.

Overall, the creative succeeds in embedding SuperValu’s association with wine expertise.

Crucially, it frames this expertise as a point of differentiation, positioning SuperValu as a quality retailer with a difference.

The challenge lies in balancing authenticity with emotional payoff, ensuring the audience doesn’t just understand the claim but feels it too, making the perception of quality both credible and motivating.

Best Performing Scenes

0:02 – 0:08 – Kevin’s Introduction

As Kevin swirls a glass and clinks with a vineyard owner, the VO names him: “Kevin O’Callaghan, just a man with a nose for wine or the reason SuperValu’s wine always hits the right notes.”

This moment works because it pairs a brand mention with a human face.

Engagement, Desire, and Impact all spike, driven by auditory priming and category anchoring.

Viewers don’t just hear the brand, they see expertise embodied in Kevin. That combination makes the message easy to process and harder to forget.

At a cognitive level, what’s happening is the audience is experiencing empathic mirroring: audiences watch Kevin act with authority and their brains simulate that confidence, making the expertise feel personally relevant.

For marketers, the insight is clear: early brand cues work hardest when attached to people, not just products.

Associating a credible figure with the brand message triggers both memory and emotional connection, turning a claim of expertise into something that feels lived and believable and positioning the brand as a retailer with a difference.

0:09 – 0:13 – Pour and Evaluation

A close-up of wine being poured and assessed delivers one of the ad’s highest Impact peaks. Neural data shows Desire lifting sharply here.

Why? Because this is where expertise feels real. Watching someone savour and evaluate creates goal contagion, we instinctively want to share the experience.

The brain rewards this clarity of action, making the association between wine and SuperValu more motivating.

For marketers, the lesson is that expertise scenes work best when they are tactile and human.

Showing the craft in action allows audiences not only to observe but to simulate the experience themselves, which strengthens approach motivation and helps anchor the brand’s authority in memory.

Underperforming Scenes

0:25 – 0:30 - Closing Lock Up

The ad closes with a shopper placing wine into her trolley, price point, Drink Aware banner and Supervalu logo all appearing in quick succession.

This causes memory dips and spikes in mental effort, as too many elements compete for attention just as the story resolves.

Instead of a clean payoff, the moment feels slightly busy, diluting the closure that should cement the brand in mind.

For marketers, the learning is straightforward: endings work best when they are simple and decisive.

A single clear brand cue with one strong message helps the brain lock in the story.

When closure is cluttered, recall weakens and the satisfying sense of resolution is lost. In practice, less at the end means more remembered later.

Behavioural Impact (COM-B)

Survey results reinforce the neural story. Capability is the ad’s strength: viewers clearly understand the role of expertise in sourcing wine, so the claim of quality lands without confusion.

Opportunity performs solidly, as SuperValu is seen as a trusted retail environment where shoppers can easily access this expertise.

Motivation lags behind, showing that while audiences believe the claim, they are less emotionally compelled to act on it.

In practical terms, this means people recognise SuperValu’s authority in wine but don’t yet feel an urgent pull to change their behaviour or purchase decisions.

The data also highlights demographic nuances: strongest scores among 45–54 year-olds and female viewers suggest that the message resonates most with established household shoppers, while softer performance in Connacht/Ulster and younger adults points to an opportunity to broaden appeal.

Exposure Impact was high, meaning those who had seen the ad before reported stronger behavioural intent, evidence that repeated exposure builds belief over time.

Targeting Impact was particularly strong, suggesting that when the ad feels personally relevant, it unlocks more powerful intent.

For marketers, the insight is clear: the campaign already establishes credibility, but the next step is to create more emotional urgency and broaden relevance so that belief translates into behaviour.

Lessons for Marketers

SuperValu’s wine ad shows how authenticity and expertise can build credibility, but also where subtle tweaks could make the impact stronger.

For marketers, the learning is that differentiation on quality must be made simple, emotional, and easy to remember.

• Anchor brand cues early and often: The VO mention at 0–6s lands well, but reinforcing it visually earlier would strengthen memory and link brand to expertise sooner.
• Pair expertise with emotion or motivation: The pour and evaluate scene proves that expertise resonates most when viewers can feel the experience through empathic mirroring.
• Avoid mid-section drift: Long vineyard montages risk losing energy. Small human touches, expressions, and reactions can keep attention alive and make the difference feel real.
• Simplify the closing frame: Closure works best when clear. Too many competing cues at the end weaken recall. A single strong message with the logo would be more powerful.
• Turn belief into action: The ad earns trust but doesn’t always move viewers to act. Calls-to-action or subtle social proof can bridge credibility into behaviour.

In short, the campaign positions SuperValu as a quality retailer with a difference.

The next step is to ensure audiences not only understand that difference but also feel motivated to bring it into their shopping choices, so that “The Difference is Real” moves from vineyard to trolley.

For more insights from PRIZM+ on how neuroscience drives advertising impact, visit: https://www.futureproofinsights.ie/prizm-plus/