On Monday last week, Sainsbury’s was caught out instructing staff to encourage customers to spend more during each shopping trip; by Thursday Lidl had responded with a fantastic piece of playful advertising, turning the gaffe around to their advantage.

Staff at an East London Sainsbury’s store mistakenly placed a poster in their shop window that was intended to be viewed by staff only. The poster, urging staff to “encourage every customer to spend an additional 50p during each shopping trip between now and the end of the year”, was photographed and tweeted by customer, Chris Dodds.

After 5,000 retweets and making headlines in the National Press, Lidl reacted quickly with an advert in newspapers and shop windows poking fun at the mistake.

Lidl’s quick and witty response, as part of their #LidlSurprises campaign , demonstrates how a brand’s marketing should be managed. We have already expressed our admiration for Lidl’s new TV advert that highlights the quality of their cheaper products but this takes it a step further. They have chosen exactly the right moment and injected exactly the right level of humour to add further weight to their money saving message.

They realised the opportunity, reacted to it quickly and nimbly and executed their response with a sense of humour that resonates with their customers.

With more than £1billion being wiped off the total value of Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons combined in the last week, it is clear that UK shoppers are changing the way they shop.

Well played Lidl!