In an example of how good customer service can pay dividends, Sainsbury’s response to a three-years old’s letter about renaming Tiger Bread went viral, ultimately resulting in the supermarket chain changing the name of its product in stores to ‘Giraffe Bread’. Despite being more than seven months old, the story was resurrected and has had more than 14,000 ‘shares’ on Facebook. The girl’s mother went on to upload the letters to Facebook, starting the 'Campaign to change Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread at Sainsbury's' which went viral, registering hundred of Facebook 'likes' and comments, and nudging Sainsbury's into action.
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Brand: Sainsbury’s | Media: Social Media, Customer Relationship Management | Sector: FMCG | Format: Social Media, Retail
Sainsbury's bowed to a social media campaign urging the supermarket to rename its Tiger Bread to 'Giraffe Bread' on the advice of a 3-year-old girl.
The new Giraffe loaves went on sale eight months after toddler Lily Robinson sent a letter to the supermarket suggesting the splotches on the bloomer's crust resemble more a giraffe's pelt than that of a tiger.
Lily Robinson, who is "age three and a half" wrote to Sainsbury's last May, even drawing a picture of her imaginary dog Beaky at the bottom.
"Dear Sainsssssssssssssssssssbbbbbbbbbbbburyyys, Why is tiger bread c/alled tiger bread?" It should be c/alled giraffe bread. Love from Lily Robinson age 3 1/2"
The letter, addressed to Sainsbury's Supermarkets, reached the customer service department, from where employee Chris King responded:
"Thanks so much for your letter. I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea - it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn't it?"
King then explains the reason behind naming the bread so was because the first baker who made it a "looong time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly."
King encloses a £3 gift card for the store and signs the letter "Chris King (age 27 & 1/3).
Despite being more than seven months old, the story has been resurrected and has had more than 14,000 ‘shares’ on Facebook in recent days.
Lily's mother went on to upload the letters to Facebook, starting the 'Campaign to change Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread at Sainsbury's' which went viral, registering hundred of Facebook 'likes' and comments, and nudging Sainsbury's into action.
A spokesman for the store said: ‘In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread and seeing how that goes.’
Customer manager King received hundreds of compliments for his thoughtful response and is now training to be a primary school teacher.
