Retail
No Big TV Ad
Christmas is the busiest and most competitive period in the supermarket calendar, with major retailers investing heavily in high-profile TV advertising.
Co-op didn’t have the budget to compete in the same way. The challenge was to find another way to earn attention at Christmas while staying true to the brand’s community focus.
Every Christmas, supermarkets compete to produce the biggest and most talked-about TV advert. Without one, Co-op risked being overlooked.
I saw an opportunity to turn that into an advantage. Instead of quietly sitting out the battle for the biggest Christmas advert, we made the decision not to produce one the story itself.
That gave Co-op a distinctive position and created a credible reason to focus attention on its partnership with Your Local Pantry.
Co-op announced that it would not produce a traditional Christmas TV advert and would instead use its campaign to shine a light on Your Local Pantry and the communities it supports.
The campaign centred on social content, community stories and talent including Big Zuu, helping the partnership reach a much wider audience during one of retail’s busiest periods.
The campaign gave Co-op a distinctive presence at Christmas without trying to match the spending of larger competitors.
Making the absence of a Christmas advert part of the campaign generated positive media coverage, increased awareness of Your Local Pantry and reinforced Co-op’s reputation as a community-focused retailer.
The wider partnership aimed to grow the Pantry network from 75 to 225 locations, support more than 32,000 households and help members save almost £5 million on groceries over three years.
Social: Michael Cooper
Creative: Bronwyn Sweeney & Loren Cook