Jamie Oliver ad campaign ensures it's a pukka C hristmas for Sainsbury's

Jamie Oliver's advertising campaign for Sainsbury's helped propel the supermarket chain to the sharpest rise in market share of any of the big players

SAINSBURY'S won the supermarket Christmas battle after its Jamie Oliver-fronted advertising campaign helped the group outshine rivals, according to market research.

The chain claimed a bigger rise in market share than its competitors, up from 14.9 per cent to 15.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to Christmas Day, research firm Nielsen yesterday claimed.

The group's performance left larger rivals Asda and Tesco in the shade, despite spending the least of the "big four" on advertising over the Christmas period.

Nielsen figures showed Sainsbury's spent 24.8 million on advertising over the October to December quarter in a pre-Christmas campaign led once again by celebrity chef Oliver.

Asda forked out the most on ads, at 40.5m, but failed to boost its market share, which held firm at 15.8 per cent. Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, splashed out 38.3m on advertising and increased its share from 27.6 per cent to 27.8 per cent.