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.
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.
