Co-op, established in 1844, was the world’s first consumer cooperative. Recognised as one of the top supermarkets across the UK with nearly 2,400 stores and over 5 million Members. It also provides Insurance, Legal Services and is the leading UK Funeralcare provider with over 800 funeral homes across the country.
At the heart of the new Co-op and its Brandworld lies Membership. Co-op really is one of a kind, it is owned by its Members who each own a share for £1, giving them the opportunity to have their say on how it is run. The new brand property symbolises the idea that each Member owns a piece of Co-op by breaking up the iconic Co-op symbol. Something none of the other top supermarkets can do, this is Co-op’s key differentiator that allows them to do right by people. This is Co-op’s opportunity to start shouting about Membership and all of the brilliant things it enables.
The new Co-op brand has cascaded down to all parts of the business; Food, Funeralcare, Insurance & Legal Services.
Head of Brand Design and Creative Services, Gemma Kidd said,
‘We partnered with Someone to breathe new life into our brand in 2023, 8 years after bringing back our magnificent cloverleaf logo.
This work covered our entire brand world across all our business units across Co-op.
We wanted to unite, inspire and breathe new life into our brand identity using a fresh approach.
It’s fair to say we got way more than that in our journey with our team at Someone.
They got under the skin of our complex organisation and internal structures and needs immediately and were able to craft a brand world which met business needs and objectives but more fundamentally their magical formula meant the process was an incredible experience from beginning to end.’
The 180 year old cooperative was the creation of the Rochdale Pioneers, thirteen founding members who had a vision to do business differently. They believed in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. These were the values on what Co-op was founded on. Becoming a Member made you an owner and part of a collective that put profits back into communities not shareholders pockets. Co-op was one of the first to reward its Members through dividend stamps, or the ‘divi’ giving back to the people that shopped with them.
Membership unlocks more than lower prices, it helps educate over 20,000 students across the Co-op Academies, puts a key focus on Fair Trade, allows Members to have a say in how the profits are used and so much more.
SomeOne Founder and Exec Strategic Director, Gary Holt notes “A new survey revealed that over 50% of consumers admitted that they didn’t understand what it means when a business is a cooperative or a mutual. The new Brandworld looks to help address this by focusing on the idea that each individual Member owns a piece of the cooperative, putting Membership at the heart of everything Co-op does”.
The bold activist approach of breaking up the Co-op symbol, showcases the brands intentions of driving its USP that is Membership but also to give the brand purpose and a behaviour that is worth listening to.
Shaun Turnbull, Creative Director explains “The breaking up of the symbol was limited to 5 pieces, the most iconic forms that would be recognisable even when isolated. The role of the Membershapes is to hero Co-op’s individuality and bring to life Co-op’s differentiating qualities. It also has another role, a role to help the brand flex in multi-channel communications, this is something the brand has struggled with from what we heard when speaking with key stakeholders. The Membershapes can be used as; a window, a holding device, a pattern, a graphic device or a piece of storytelling”.
This added flexibility has allowed all of Co-op’s Services to feel like one brand from Food, to Legal Services, Insurance and Funeralcare. Previously, each sub-brand looked like a separate business, losing the opportunity to thrive off of the collective offering from Co-op — the new Brandworld has unified them all.
“It says something of a brand, and their intentions – that it’s prepared to break up its core brand asset – the logo, to be truly seen as a brand that does business differently”
“By employing a straightforward, shared device, the brand revitalises Co-op’s mission in people’s lives, dedicated to doing right by you”.
The New Co-op is straightforward and honest in everything it does and the same goes for the creation of its first ever bespoke typeface, named Co-op Headline. The focus on CAPS enhances Co-op’s new direction, that aims to shout about all of the brilliant things that the Co-op is doing up and down the country.
Created in collaboration with F37, the headline font was born from the DNA of the Co-op symbol. Echoing the curvature of the squircle like corners and the angled cuts that can be found on the ‘c’ and ‘p’.
In addition to the expected vector version of the font, an SVG textured version was created. Why? So that the typeface would retain the detail of the ink rolled texture that was created at St Brides Library, London. The intention, to mimic that of letterpress blocks for an overall more authentic and activist inspired behaviour.
An extension of the Brandworld was an expressive set of iconography, to be used across all touchpoints. Again cues of the curved forms come from the Co-op symbol. Created to be easily replicated across all business units.
“Our aim was to create an authentic, honest and tactile New Co-op — a brand for the people by the people. Implemented across the BrandWorld through to the bespoke typography, iconography and Membershapes, it is a visual language that cuts through this competitive sector”.
Co-op has always believed in the potential that Membership can unlock across the UK. This belief is reflected through a purposeful brand identity, a distinctive typeface, and a strong graphic approach visible at every touchpoint. The new Co-op Brandworld is unified by its flexibility and consistency.
The work is inspiring and throughout there was a laser focus on developing it to answer problems we had but also taking us to the next level in terms of beautiful brand assets and accessibility. Projects like this are not easy and it is due to Someone’s fabulous intuition, joining dots (we didn’t event know about) and bringing valuable external perspectives into our organisation that have been so successful. They have challenged our comfort zones and inspired us to strive for better in our work! Above all they are just a wonderful team of human beings who truly care about their clients and their craft.
SomeOne Team:
Gary Holt — Founder / Exec Creative & Strategic Director
Shaun Turnbull — Creative Director
Beth Baines — Head of Accounts
Lucy Richardson — Designer
James Bell — Designer