Co-op use power of radio to launch summer campaign

Combined audience reach of over 50m achieved with the help of Steve Cram CBE and some neatly crafted research

Objective:

Following their major rebrand, The Co-op, Britain’s favourite convenience retailer, embarked on a summer marketing strategy themed around ‘unpredictability’ to help position local stores as the ideal place to pick up last minute party & BBQ food whatever the weather.

Strategy:

Working closely with Co-op Food’s in-house team, markettiers devised a broadcast PR campaign that would bring the season’s unpredictability and the summer’s great sporting occasions vividly to life. With neatly crafted research, we created a story that placed unpredictability & fun at its heart to complement the above the line activity, while stirring genuine debate and local passions as sporting fever took hold.  

In order to appeal to the widest possible UK audience while avoiding the campaign becoming a ‘football only’ story which could turn off Scottish audiences we turned to Olympic legend, footie fan and seasoned broadcaster Steve Cram CBE as a warm, relatable voice for British households. Coupled with home-nation data that painted a portrait of sporting fever & party plans in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, we delivered impactful & far reaching broadcast coverage positioning Co-op as the go-to destination for last minute supplies.

Results:

Our campaign reached a combined audience in excess of 50m just a week before the European Football Championships kicked off. Coverage included TalkSport, BBC Wales, BBC Scotland, Sky News Radio, TalkRadio, BBC West Midlands, BBC Leicester, BBC Devon and a slew of commercial and BBC stations across the home nations, giving Co-op a powerful on-air presence as the summer of sport finally arrived.