Centra harnesses the power of social media to build authentic profile and brand
With 515 independent retailers operating stores across Ireland, Centra serves more than 3.5 million customers every week, making it Ireland’s leading convenience retailer. Providing convenient shopping with value and quality front of mind, Centra’s network of 515 stores supports over 38,000 jobs and directly employs approximately 12,000 people nationwide.
The brand is leveraging the power of social media through award-winning partnerships such as The Traitors Ireland and the creation of Centra Deli Drama, a four-part social media soap opera featuring TV personalities and Centra colleagues. These initiatives have empowered stores to create their own content or ‘magic dust’, bringing Centra’s independent retailer network to life at national scale.
Marketing team
Centra’s marketing strategy is led by Marketing Manager Heather Murphy. Heather joined the Musgrave business six years ago, beginning her retail career on the insights side of the company before making the move into marketing.
“What I like to say to people is that I’ve gone from listening to what customers have to say to helping shape what they see,” she smiles. “I think my time listening to consumers has given me a real understanding of what matters to them and how they engage with brands.”
“I work with a fantastic team of 15 people across brand, campaigns, PR, social media and digital content. But at the heart of everything we do is connecting Centra with communities in a way that feels relevant and real.”
“People want authenticity, they want to be entertained, and they want brands to show up in culture in a meaningful way. One of the ways we do that is through social media, it plays an absolutely massive role for us at Centra. We have an in-house Social Media & Digital Content Team that manage everything from planning to content creation to social media buying”
Brand-building platform
Centra views social media as much more than a communications channel. For the brand, it’s a powerful way to build relevance and deepen connections with customers.
“Over the last number of years, we’ve increasingly used social media to build the profile of Centra,” says Heather. “Everything we do ladders back to our brand philosophy, Live Every Day. That’s about showing up when it matters to customers, whether they’re grabbing a Frank and Honest coffee in the morning, heading to the gym, going to a match or simply getting through a busy day.
“The focus isn’t on the traditional ‘here’s the product, here’s the price’ approach. It’s about creating content that feels part of people’s everyday lives and reflects the role Centra plays within them.”
Centra’s social media strategy is guided by three content pillars: value, convenience, and culture and community.
“Those pillars give us a strong framework to balance our commercial priorities with content that people genuinely want to engage with. Our campaigns aren’t just about promoting products. They help customers discover value, find inspiration for everyday occasions and understand how Centra can make their lives easier, whether that’s through healthier choices, meal solutions or on-the-go food options” Heather says.
Authenticity is particularly important when engaging younger audiences. “Gen Z are incredibly tuned into what works on each platform, so you have to create content that feels native, relevant and entertaining rather than overly branded.”
This approach is brought to life across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, with content tailored to each platform while remaining consistent with the Centra brand.
Three key platforms
Centra tailors its content to each social media platform.
TikTok is the engine room and Centra is the number one grocery brand in Ireland for engagements on TikTok, Heather reveals. “It took us a while to get there and we’ve done it by leaning into trends, building on humour employee-generated content is absolutely key for us. It’s fast, it’s reactive and it’s very entertainment-led,” she explains.
We regularly tap into emerging social trends and conversations in a way that feels authentic to our brand.
Instagram, meanwhile, is used more as a tool for building brand personality and engagement. “It’s a different audience for us as well, versus TikTok. That’s where we bring ‘Live Every Day’ to life through lifestyle and cultural moments,” Heather says. The latest activity has aligned with the World Cup and The Devil Wears Prada 2. “We did some really fun content with that. It’s more playful, more meme-style content that we work with on Instagram,” she says.
Facebook is the third platform in the social media triumvirate and Centra playbook. “Facebook is still hugely important for us. It is a really strong platform to engage commercially, but also from a community perspective, and that’s where we land the harder value messages,” Heather says.
More tactically, Centra uses Facebook to promote its Simple Savers and My Centra Prices as part of our new My Centra App Loyalty Programme “We also do a lot of local store content on Facebook and it drives those practical, everyday decisions on value,” she adds.
Each channel plays a distinct role within our strategy, helping us connect with customers at different stages of their journey.
Social media shift with Gen Z
While static posts still have currency, there’s a definite continued shift towards social in terms of content and investment at Centra. Social media is directly impacting consideration and footfall so demands richer and authentic content so that Centra shows up on the right platforms, drives engagement and brand-building.
Younger audiences have completely changed the expectations of how brands show up, Heather maintains. “They don’t want over-polished ads – they want content that feels authentic, entertaining and native to the platforms they’re on. And they expect brands to show up in culture, to understand what’s happening in the world and respond quickly.”
Heather likens social media to a digital shop window, which shoppers don’t just use for inspiration, but actually to decide where they’re shopping and what they’re going to buy.
“So, you have to show up, you have to merchandise and you have to bring it to life in a way that gets people through that digital shop window and into a physical store. It means leaning more into trend-led content, employee and influencer content and video storytelling -which is very much where that Centra Deli Drama idea came to life.”
Centra Deli Drama: entertainment-led content
Centra Deli Drama, an episodic soap opera which premiered on YouTube and Centra’s social media channels, was inspired by the role Centra plays in everyday Irish life, particularly at the deli counter, one of the most dynamic and human parts of the Centra store.
“We worked closely with our PR agency to develop a concept that could authentically capture the energy and reflect the real-life experience of customers and staff at the heart of Centra stores,” Heather explains.
The retail brand also wanted to engage with younger audiences with an appealing, short-form episodic, entertainment-led format – the kind of content they already enjoyed on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
“That really brought this idea to life. We saw the opportunity to move beyond traditional product messaging and create something people actively chose to watch, to tap into and to come back to. And that’s where Centra Deli Drama was brought to life – the mashing of the heart of the store with people wanting to see entertainment-led content,” Heather says.
The series featured recurring characters and, rather than four individual episodes, it had cliffhangers at the end of every episode to get people to come back for more, and a storyline threaded through. The two-minute-long episodes launched on 28th October 2025, culminating in a Christmas special. The storylines reflected recognisable, real-life interactions, but in a heightened and still relatable way. Product were integrated naturally, so they felt part of the experience and not a forced add-on.
Centra worked with well-known talent, such as Irish broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli and Cheryl Fergison of EastEnders fame, complemented by a broader cast of Irish characters and culturally relevant cameos.
Crucially, the retailer included real-life Centra colleagues and deli staff as in-store extras.
Filming was done over two nights at the Centra Drumcondra, Dublin, store – “It really was a modern backdrop, and the team in the store were absolutely fantastic,” Heather recalls.
Alongside Centra Deli Drama, the retailer ran a campaign where it asked shoppers to nominate their Deli Champions, and they won prizes. “Again, the whole of Centra Deli Drama for us was about putting that spotlight on the heart of the store, the staff and the brand. That was hugely important for us – to build it and bring it to life – and we did it in a way that exceeded all our expectations,” she says.
Viewing stats
Launching off the back of Centra’s partnership with The Traitors Ireland, which ran from the end of August into September, Centra Deli Drama generated 100,000 engagements, 12 million video views, 40 million impressions plus a Spiders Award for digital excellence.
“It was fantastic recognition for the team and their hard work. It did a job, and it did it really well for us. Yes, we took a chance, but we took a calculated chance based on the insights we had, the trends we were watching, working closely with our agency partners . And that calculated risk paid off.”
While there are currently no plans for a second series, Heather and her team are taking the learnings and the success of the campaign and applying them more broadly across Centra’s content strategy; as well as leveraging content created across 515 Centra stores.
“We do social media training with our stores, so they understand the power of this channel, and we’ve taken learnings from Centra Deli Drama to shape that training and to shape our approach to engagement and repeat viewing. We’ve expanded our focus on video-first, social-native content; we’re continuing to invest in talent, influencers and employee-generated content but taking a more ‘always-on,’ culturally responsive approach, and really showing up in moments that matter to our consumers. I think Centra Deli Drama has taught us the huge amount that we can now do as a brand, and have permission to do as a brand,” Heather says.
And, while Centra is still the very much the brand guardian, it is empowering stores on their social media journey.
“We do have rules and regulations around how we want the brand to show up, and we apply that – we highlight those in our social media training and materials – and the stores are aligned to that, which is great,” Heather says.
What our local stores bring is their own personality and connection to their communities. That authentic content is something we call our ‘magic dust’, and it’s often content that we can amplify at a national level Heather says.
