AUGUST 2018

ASHLEY SELLWOOD, COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING OFFICER AT THE PLUNKETT FOUNDATION:
“It is important to promote how your co-op is different to others. This could be that you provide volunteer training, social clubs
for local people or a community café.”
Above: Becky White with Active and In Touch a Co-op Group-supported charity
Plunkett Foundation supporting community pubs
HELEN CARROLL, DIRECTOR OF BRAND AT THE
CO-OP GROUP:
“Co-ops should market themselves by shining
a light on the difference they are making,
rather than just trying to explain that they are
different. Why co-ops exist is not a sell in itself
if our actions are the same as everyone else’s.
Show, don’t tell, should be at the heart of an
effective co-operative marketing approach.”
MIKE ERSKINE, MARKETING OFFICER, WALES CO-OPERATIVE CENTRE:
“What I always try to recommend to our clients who are trying to market
what makes them different is – go digging for those personal stories that
lie deep within your organisation, which reflect your vision, your co-op
values. Can you find an individual who has faced a tough challenge and
has, thanks to the support from your organisation and other partners,
tackled that challenge head on and come out the other side better for
it? It is those human interest stories which have that stick factor and will
make people remember your co-op difference.”
LAURA DUNNE, HEAD OF MARKETING AND MEMBERSHIP AT THE LINCOLNSHIRE
CO-OPERATIVE
“Generally, it’s the purpose of what you’re
doing that’s different because you’re a
co-op, or the approach you take. We focus
on these aspects in our marketing to get
some standout from the crowd who are
often reporting similar outcomes”
AUGUST 2018 | 43