2017 winner: Tesco, brand revitalisation - case study

2017 winner: Tesco

Sometimes, looking back can be the key to moving forward.

Following a series of well documented missteps over 2014/15, including the biggest loss ever suffered by a UK retailer, Tesco was experiencing a rather sobering reality: customers, colleagues and suppliers were finding it to be undifferentiated and untrustworthy. More Every Little Helps Tesco than Every Little Helps me.

Having undergone a period of introspection and ‘brand archaeology’, Tesco were able to define the behaviours behind its initial rise to greatness. It needed to get back to putting the customer first; back to being a workplace for colleagues to be proud of; back to being trusted by suppliers; back to serving people, not just running shops.

The arrival of a new CEO, Dave Lewis in 2014, marked the beginning of this change. An exmarketer, he understood the power of the business agenda and the brand strategy operating as one. Importantly, for Tesco, this would mean putting the customer at the heart of all business decisions, from the inside out.

To communicate this to Britain, Tesco needed to turn its ‘Every Little Helps’ brand line into a genuinely customer-centric proposition again, and live it, not just say it. In this way, all Tesco activity could be framed through the differentiator of ‘helpfulness’.

Today, ‘Every Little Helps’ is making a big difference as Tesco starts to slowly win trust back from customers, colleagues and suppliers. Further, Tesco’s revitalised brand has not only had a positive impact on the business’s results; it’s also been leading, helping and guiding the business agenda.

Put another way, this isn’t just a story of ‘brand revitalisation’. It’s one of business revitalisation, through the brand.

This paper represents the beginning of a revitalised, more helpful Tesco.


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(Please note: parts of this case study may have been redacted for confidentiality purposes.)


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