ABSTRACT
In the past, Coop Switzerland’s concept of sustainability was always communicated through own-label product brands, the so-called ‘competence brands’. Although this has been effective and continues to work very well, Coop Switzerland wanted sustainabilityrelated communication which enhanced the retail or umbrella brand Coop in addition to these product-related brands. A key reason for this was that the leading Swiss retailer needed to find a way to reach younger target audiences with sustainability messages for those who would not otherwise read about them (Coop Switzerland’s own weekly paper has 60 per cent coverage of Swiss households) and would not purchase competence brand products. Dr Thomas Schwetje, Head of Marketing at Coop Switzerland, recalls: ‘This future generation will be at the receiving end of our unsustainable lifestyle. We felt we needed to talk to them in their own language. It was our objective to create a lightbulb experience, an “aha-reaction” regarding sustainability, using strong visuals and music.’
