Decoding 'value' in a cost-of-living crisis.
When the meaning of ‘value’ shifted overnight, a national grocer needed to understand what their shoppers actually wanted — and how to win them back without trashing the brand.
Price wasn't the whole story — but no one knew what was.
Shoppers were trading down on some categories and trading up on others. The retailer’s value perception was sliding, but discounting was eroding margin without moving the needle. The board needed a sharper read on what ‘value’ really meant in 2024 — and a positioning that could earn back trust.
- Brand value perception declining quarter on quarter
- Tactical price-cuts failing to shift consideration
- No shared definition of 'value' across marketing, range or comms
Six value territories, mapped to real shopper behaviour.
We combined accompanied shops, household ethnography and a 12,000-strong quant survey to decode the trade-offs shoppers were actually making. We mapped value as a multi-dimensional construct — price, trust, quality, time, ethics, surprise — and built territories the brand could credibly own.
- Accompanied shops across 8 store formats
- In-home ethnography capturing pantry, fridge and bin
- MaxDiff prioritisation of 30 value drivers
- Workshop co-creation with category, brand and trading teams
A positioning that lifted consideration and protected margin.
The brand stopped competing on headline price and instead built campaigns around ‘value you can taste’ and ‘value you can trust’. Within 12 months, brand consideration rose 4.2 points and the retailer reported £18M of incremental revenue attributed to the repositioned value message.
- New brand platform launched across ATL and in-store
- Range architecture re-tiered around three value pillars
- Promo mechanics simplified and reduced by 22%
Kokoro didn't just tell us what value meant — they gave us a framework we could brief against the next morning.
Director of Insight & Strategy
