The Times, Mar 2009
It’s too early to tell whether or not the Co-Op Group’s decision to launch a big, bold campaign focused on its business model and its social values will prove successful in the long run. But there’s no denying that, all of a sudden, a company and a business model that only a year ago seemed outdated and lacking in vitality has a powerful new lease of life – and not just them, think Nationwide too.
It’s a remarkable turn of events. After all, it’s unlikely that anyone would have really believed that differentiation on the basis of a business model was a viable mainstream consumer-facing strategy 12 months ago. Let alone argued that it was worth putting several millions pounds worth of marketing budget behind it. This makes the campaign interesting in itself.
But perhaps even more interesting is fact that the Co-Op’s message isn’t just about the fact that it is run on a different model. It’s about what this enables it to do. The Group sets out the merits of its approach in plain language on its website. It explains that because of its shared ownership model and democratic approach to management “instead of blindly chasing profits like businesses controlled by shareholders, we are able to steer our business in a more responsible direction.”
The advertisement it has shown recently runs along the same theme. It makes much of the Group’s commitment to ethical values and environmentalism (in this month’s Concerned Consumer Index the Co-Op supermarket comes top for how it is addressing social and environmental issues). The message is all about values
At a time when its PLC competitors are all focusing on value, this further drives home the extent to which the Co-op Group is different.
The overall effect is powerful. It gives consumers a reason to believe – and something to believe in. And so it sets the Co-Op model up not just as an alternative. But as an alternative with real – and very compelling - advantages.
