Data and marketing the next stop in Empire turnaround

With its three-year turnaround effort starting to gain traction, Michael Medline says Empire Companies Limited is in a better position to focus on marketing, data and analytics.

The first couple years of Project Sunrise--the grocery company's aggressive plan to simplify organizational structures and reduce costs--involved strengthening Empire's infrastructure and building a strong foundation, the CEO said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday afternoon.

"You can't build on sand, I like to say. We've got a really good infrastructure, team's working well, we are pleased with the development," he said. "Now we can really get going."

Medline said he was surprised by how much data the company had and how good it was at using it. "But I think there is a whole shift here that we will see over the next couple of years in terms of being able to use analytics to support our business."

Though Medline wouldn't share specific marketing plans ("That would ruin the surprise."), he credited newly appointed Sobeys senior vice-president of marketing Sandra Sanderson with making "a quick impact" since joining the organization in December.

"Sandra was just presenting to our board, and we had a great presentation in terms of where marketing is going and what actions we're going to take in the short, medium and long term and where we're going to take our brands," he said.

Sharper marketing and branding has greatly benefitted the company's discount banner FreshCo, which underwent a refresh at pilot locations in Ontario last summer. FreshCo 2.0, as it has been dubbed, has resulted in improved sales and customer metrics, and it's a look and feel that will be carried throughout the store network in the coming years.