Co-op on growing its data science team to overcome measurement challenges as it roadmaps 2017 ad plans
The Co-op is planning to grow its data science team as it looks to overcome the challenges of “murky measurement” laid out by Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Marc Pritchard last week.
Currently led by data science director Catherine Brien – who joined last year – the grocer said that the team is expanding to “get under the skin of analytics to measure our digital channels as confidently as we can,” customer director Jemima Bird told The Drum.
It’s not a surprising move to build its in-house measurement capabilities given the increasing scepticism around what digital is actually offering marketers. Pritchard said the media supply chain is “murky at best, fraudulent at worst” and has subsequently started a review into all of its media contracts to exert greater control over the quality of its media strategy.
His calls for greater transparency were only heightened amid a report that ad misplacement by some of the world’s biggest brands means they are inadvertently funding extremism and pornography. Mercedez-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover are just two of the companies to have responded with a review of the way they’re handling media.
“Marc Pritchard’s speech] was a good call, very positive,” said Bird. “But as marketers we’ve got to get smarter about being able to demonstrate how digital is delivering. That [data science] team is growing. Digital is a core part of our strategy which people don’t maybe recognise.”
It comes as the retailer maps out its marketing strategy for the coming year, which will see it invest heavily in trying to convert people to its membership scheme. It’s already rolled out a cinema campaign shot by ‘This is England’ director Shane Meadows and has followed it up with another wave of activity landing on TV, OOH, print, digital and social media this week.
Called #JoinUs, the 30-second advert aims to show "the Co-op way", telling a food quality story which champions its Fairtrade heritage and British sourcing.
It also highlights the fact that Co-op offers its membership scheme participants 5% back on purchases and promises that 1% of what people spend will go directly back into their communities.
It’s all in aid of achieving its goal of converting one million new members to the scheme by the end of 2017, a target which is on track given around half a million people signed up after it relaunched last September under the stewardship of former NewsWorks chief Rufus Olins. The achievement is no mean feat given the well documented struggles other retailers have faced with loyalty schemes.
“Customers seem to be really into the idea of joining something where they’re not only earning something for themselves but also giving back to the local community,” Bird said of its success.
“We’ve always been at the heart of the community and people inherently trust the brand, so when we say we’re doing something in the local community [customers] tend to believe us more because of the fact that we’ve been doing this for generations, not because we’ve jumped on a band wagon.”
Altruism aside, the Co-op is also seeing that members of the scheme are more engaged with the brand and – crucially – their baskets are bigger.
“It ties into the fact that they see an accumulation on their receipt every time they shop of not only what’s in their wallet to spend but also what’s going to the local community which is motiving.”
Communicating this purpose will remain the key focus of its marketing activity for the coming year.
Following the end of the new ‘#JoinUs’ campaign in March, there will be a flurry of activity around its AGM in May when it releases its first annual payment to members swiftly followed another wave of advertising to promote its commitment to British farmers (the brand's fresh meat and dairy produce is 100% British). Then, through to Christmas, anther marketing push will continue to talk up the benefits of joining the Co-op.
However, this will undoubtedly run against a backdrop of transition as the group’s chief executive Richard Pennycook steps down in March and Steve Murrells takes over.
Bird said the handover was “not concerning at all”
“Steve is a passionate marketing supporter. Richard has managed the organisation fabulously in terms of the recovery and I think that he hands the reigns over to Steve who is absolutely motivated to take it to the next level. Our team is really excited about the next step.”
After declining sales, Pennycook set about on a recovery plan which has seen the retailer record consistent sales growth since 2015. According to Kantar Worldpanel, the Co-op enjoyed a 2% sales hike during the last quarter - "well ahead of the market - and has maintained its marketshare, despite being overtaken by Aldi as the fifth biggest grocer in the UK.
Bird dismissed that Aldi's rise up the Kantar league table was a concern, saying "its all a numbers game" and the Co-op's sale of nearly 300 stores to McColl's skewed the last set of figures.