Created by us
The Co-operative Food is overhauling its own-brand offering, with the launch of its new vibrant “Loved by Us” brand for its standard tier to reflect the retailer’s passion for food.
Created to showcase the retailer’s food credentials and to appeal to younger consumers, the Loved by Us range will start appearing in store in September, with 700 lines being introduced by Christmas, and the remaining products being rolled out throughout 2014. The roll out of the new-look range, consisting of more than 2,500 products, will start with food-to-go products, followed by ready meals, pies and pizzas.
The design, created by Coley Porter Bell, marks a strategic step change in The Cooperative’s approach to packaging, stressing the human touch and naturalness of the own-brand offering. It draws on the retailer’s ethical credentials, presenting an informal, unpretentious identity.
The new Loved by Us brand mark aims to create a strong identity by evoking the natural vibrancy of The Co-operative’s food. ‘Loved’ is in a large, confident and modern face using bright natural colours. It is bold and proud, presenting The Cooperative own brand as unfussy and unpretentious everyday fare. It contrasts with the informality of ‘by us’, which is in a hand-written style offering the reassurance of The Co-operative master brand.
The Loved by Us designs do not follow a rigid template, but can be modified to allow individual benefits and properties of each product to be shown to their best advantage. Sumptuous photography reinforces the high quality and modernity of the products.
The new brand for the retailer’s standard tier reflects The Co-operative’s aim to provide delicious food conveniently, with each new product being tested at the retailer’s state-of-the-art taste kitchen at The Co-operative’s new support centre in Manchester. A team of more than 2, 000 employees also test new own-brand products in their own homes with their family and friends, providing product developers with an invaluable insight into what consumers are looking for.
Marjorie Murphy, Own-brand Strategy Manager, The Co-operative Food, said: “We wanted to demonstrate our love and passion for food. The name Loved by Us was as a result of customer research which was undertaken to ensure that the packaging clearly communicated the great quality of the new range, in addition to the integrity associated with The Co-operative’s own-brand products.
“We are confident that customers will be impressed by our Loved by Us products, as they all come with the guarantee that they have been developed with care and pride, by experts who are passionate about creating tasty and delicious everyday foods. “The packaging design is bold, contemporary and naturally vibrant – in keeping with our modern co-operative business and our aim of attracting a younger target audience to our stores.”
Vicky Bullen, CEO of Coley Porter Bell said: “The Cooperative has a fantastic reputation for honesty and straight dealing. In many ways The Co-operative’s values are perfect for the times. It is the least corporate of the supermarkets. It serves its members. It is transparent, fair and has a reputation for integrity.
“But perhaps its previous designs were a little too regimented. Our design problem was how to make integrity relevant to taste. The new designs show that you can be honest and straightforward but still communicate taste first and foremost while injecting a coherent personality into products ranging from health foods to ready meals.”