+44 (0)203 693 3150

Central England Cooperative Brand Research Case Study Vision One

Coop Customer Segmentation Study

The Challenge

Central England Co-operative (CEC) is one of the UK’s largest independent retailers, operating over 400 trading outlets. As part of a strategic exercise to define and refresh its purpose, vision and values, early internal work highlighted the need for broader, more inclusive insight.

The challenge was to ensure that CEC’s evolving brand direction genuinely reflected the views of customers, colleagues and key stakeholders. Vision One was commissioned to design and deliver a large-scale research programme that could capture these perspectives and provide a robust foundation for future brand development.

Coop customer segmentation study by Vision One

Research Objectives

The research was designed to inform the development of CEC’s brand purpose, values and messaging. The key objectives were to:

  • Understand perceptions of CEC’s existing brand purpose and values
  • Explore expectations among customers, staff and stakeholders
  • Identify what differentiates CEC within the competitive retail landscape
  • Test and refine potential brand narratives and positioning
  • Assess consumer preference for alternative straplines and understand the reasons behind choice

Together, these objectives aimed to ensure CEC’s brand direction was authentic, relevant and widely supported.

Research Approach

Vision One implemented a comprehensive, mixed-method research programme to capture insight from multiple audiences. The approach included:

  • Qualitative focus groups to explore attitudes and emotional connection to the brand
  • A quantitative online survey among target customers to validate findings at scale
  • Exit surveys with shoppers to capture real-world perceptions
  • Research conducted among staff and key stakeholders
  • Integration of insight across audiences to identify shared themes and tensions

This approach ensured that brand decisions were grounded in broad, representative insight.

Findings

The research delivered a rich understanding of how CEC’s purpose and values were perceived across audiences. It identified the elements of the brand that resonated most strongly and clarified expectations around CEC’s role as a co-operative retailer.

Importantly, the research also tested responses to a new strapline, revealing clear consumer preference and the underlying reasons driving that choice. These insights provided confidence that the emerging brand direction aligned with both internal ambition and external expectation.

Action & Recommendations

Following the comprehensive segmentation research with clearly defined audiences, CEC was able to refine and strengthen its brand purpose and values with confidence. The preferred strapline, “Let’s co-operate”, was adopted and integrated into new marketing executions, ensuring the brand’s co-operative ethos was clearly and consistently communicated across touchpoints.

Coop Customer Segmentation Research Agency
Kendra Furey, Head of Brands (Vision One)

Related Research Services

Brainstorming Sessions
Consumer Research
Focus Groups
Innovation Research
Online Surveys
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
McBride NPD Case Study Vision One

The Challenge McBride plc is a leading British-based manufacturing business and Europe’s largest producer of own-label household and professional cleaning products. To strengthen its portfolio, McBride developed a series of new product concepts across three categories: automatic dishwash, laundry and water softeners. The challenge was to evaluate these concepts across three key European markets. the UK, France and Germany, and identify which ideas offered the greatest consumer appeal. McBride needed clear, comparative insight to prioritise development and tailor marketing opportunities by market and category. Research Objectives The research was designed to assess the strength and potential of multiple new product concepts across categories and markets. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to support confident, evidence-led new product prioritisation. Research Approach Vision One implemented a quantitative, multi-market concept testing programme using its proprietary IdeaProbe approach. The methodology included: This approach enabled robust prioritisation across categories and geographies. Findings The research delivered clear, category-specific insight. In laundry, a probiotic formula performed strongly on perceived uniqueness, suggesting potential for a niche proposition. In automatic dishwash, a 5-in-1 complete care concept outperformed all alternatives across key measures, highlighting a clear unmet need in the market. Water softener results varied significantly by…

McBride Product Development Research Story

GE Capital International Case Study Vision One

The Challenge GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric, supports customers closely aligned with GE’s industrial businesses. To maintain service excellence across diverse European markets, GE Capital needed a clearer understanding of customer satisfaction within its Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) division. The challenge was to assess satisfaction across products and services while capturing nuanced, market-specific feedback. Importantly, GE Capital required insight that went beyond headline metrics, enabling it to understand customer sentiment, identify improvement opportunities and prioritise actions across a complex, multi-country B2B customer base. Research Objectives The research was designed to provide a detailed view of customer satisfaction across GE Capital’s European CDF customers. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to deliver both diagnostic understanding and practical guidance for improvement. Research Approach Vision One implemented a qualitative-led, multi-market research programme across Europe. The approach included: This approach enabled GE Capital to gain rich, comparable insight while respecting linguistic and cultural differences. Findings The research delivered a clear view of customer satisfaction levels across GE Capital’s European CDF customer base. It highlighted how customers evaluated different aspects of GE Capital’s products and services, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. The qualitative depth of the…

GE Capital Success Story

Notcutts Case Study Vision One Research

The Challenge Founded in 1867, Notcutts is a long-established, family-owned garden centre business operating across England. As part of a planned refresh of its branding and marketing, Notcutts trialled a new in-store experience within one location. Before rolling this out more widely, the business needed to understand how the new branding, signage and point-of-sale communications were performing in a real shopping environment. The challenge was to evaluate whether these changes improved visibility, engagement and clarity throughout the customer journey, and to identify where refinements were needed to maximise impact. Research Objectives The retail and shopper research was designed to assess the effectiveness of Notcutts’ new in-store branding and communications before wider rollout. The key objectives were to: Together, these objectives aimed to ensure the refreshed in-store experience delivered clarity, impact and consistency across the customer journey. Research Approach Vision One implemented a mixed-method research programme combining behavioural and attitudinal techniques. The approach included: This approach allowed Vision One to observe real-world behaviour alongside reported attitudes. Findings The research revealed clear patterns in how customers visually engaged with the refreshed store environment. Key areas of fixation emerged along the customer journey, highlighting where branding and communications performed strongly and where they…

Notcutts Garden Centres Research Study