The Co-operative (UK)

The common branding used by many consumer co-operatives in the UK

The Co-operative or The Co-op is a common branding used by a variety of co-operatives based in the United Kingdom. Many in the UK mistakenly consider the Co-op to be a single national business, often confusing it with the Co-operative Group as this is the largest consumer co-operative in the world and so the biggest user of the Co-operative brand (rolling out the uniform brand to all of its 4,500 trading outlets across the country). However, each of the individual and independent retail societies in the UK trade as "the Co-op", and many use the common branding, such as the Midcounties Co-operative and Scotmid. Most Co-operative Societies have businesses in many different areas, however the largest areas of the businesses are in foodstores, particularly convenience stores, thus the largest and most visible use of the branding is as The Co-operative Food.

As of 2008 other societies, such as the Heart of England Co-operative Society, use the 1993 cloverleaf logo.

History

Cloverleaf brand

The Oxford blue version of the Co-op "cloverleaf" brand logo was introduced in 1993

From 1993 to 2007, the signage of most UK co-operative shops was based on the second version of the cloverleaf logo

File:Co-op Golden Nut Cornflakes.jpg

A box of Co-op branded Golden Nut Cornflakes still carrying the old "Cloverleaf" logo.

Following the early success of the Rochdale Pioneers, co-operative shops were established across the UK and soon began taking customers away from private traders: these traders responded by making it increasingly difficult for co-operatives to source quality goods to sell to their members. The solution was for several co-operative retailers to come together in 1863 and form the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS): the organisation (now the Co-operative Group) was responsible for sourcing and producing goods for sale in its members' shops, and also for a unified marketing and branding for the societies. It carried out this role for CWS members for nearly 100 years, and in 1968 launched "Operation Facelift" which resulted in the first ever national Co-op logo.

The "cloverleaf" logo became a very well recognised symbol for co-operatives, playing its part in creating the impression that they were a single organisation rather than a number of independent organisations sharing common principles. The brand was strengthened further by the creation of the Co-operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG) in 1993, providing Co-operative branded own-brand products (as well as other food supplies) to its members for sale in their stores: by 2002, the CRTG provided 100% of the food supplies sold by UK consumer co-operatives. However, over time, the brand became tarnished by inconsistent customer delivery from one shop to another and the image perceptions of the cloverleaf logo were irreparably damaged: in market research carried out in the early 2000s, there was a consistent decline in consumer ratings of "the Co-op"'s effectiveness when asked about the "Co-operative", to the "Co-op" and finally when shown the existing logo.

By early 2008, most bank branches and ATMs had light blue fascias representing the new common identity of The Co-operative Financial Services

“The Co-operative” brand

At the same time, the Co-operative Movement called on the Prime Minister to establish a Co-operative Commission to consider ways to ensure the survival of the co-operative model into the twenty-first century: the Commission, chaired by John Monks, published its conclusions in January 2001 and made a series of recommendations regarding co-operative branding. Most important of these recommendations were that a Co-operative Brand Panel representing all sections of the Movement should be established to monitor and maintain the positive image of the Co-operative brand, and that this panel should consider the "cloverleaf" logo's future.

On behalf of the movement, the Co-operative Group's designers and marketers collaborated with Harry Pearce and John McConnell of the designers' co-operative Pentagram, to develop a new visual identity to represent “The Co-operative”. The selected artwork was based on a sans serif bold lower case logotype of the wording, with different colours representing different businesses, and won a silver award from the Design Business Association. In 2007, the Co-operative Group's High Street supermarket in Fordingbridge became the first in the country to adopt the new brand, as part of a pilot programme of 115 shops, that saw sales up 15 per cent, beating the concurrent 4.6 per cent uplift at stores that still used the 1993 cloverleaf.

The Co-operative Group purchases Somerfield

On 16 July 2008, it was announced that the UK's largest co-operative, The Co-operative Group will purchase Somerfield Stores Ltd for £1.56 billion subject to approval from the regulators; this is set to expand The Co-operative Food branding even further as the majority of the Somerfield estate of 900 stores is expected to be converted to Co-operative branding.

External links

• The Co-operative Food – customer website for the Co-operative Group's food operation
• CRTG – trade website of the Co-operative Retail Trading Group