Woolworths has won a national multicultural marketing award for its TVC featuring husband and wife characters, Maria and Stavros, speaking in Greek.

The supermarket chain was named winner of the Big Business Category of the National Multicultural Marketing Awards, conducted for the last 20 years by the Community Relations Commission of NSW, at a dinner hosted by the NSW Minister for Citizenship and Fair Trading, Virginia Judge.

Chair of the Commission, Stepan Kerkyasharian said, “This innovative soft-sell commercial set out to reinforce the idea that Woolworths caters to the diverse range of needs and tastes that are found among the millions of customers they serve each and every week. The ad makers carefully used gestures to indicate the nature of the kitchen conversation so that it didn’t really matter which language Maria and Stavros were speaking. This was a simple reflection of life in an Australian city. The commercial creates a pleasant atmosphere which is quite evocative of Australian life, especially in the inner city suburbs of the big cities.”

Kerkyasharian pointed out that while the TVC focused on a single consumer segment, the overall theme had wider implications for multicultural marketing.

“It is hardly surprising that Woollies, as the country biggest grocer, should want to appeal to all of its potential customers, which could explain why they are the nation’s largest retailer. Many Australian business people haven’t got that far yet, haven’t even. It also cleverly sends a message of inclusion to Australians of non-English speaking background, which, in turn, is good for business,” explained Kerkyasharian.