Facts

OK Västerbotten is a cooperative association in Sweden owned by its members. The association manages 36 fuel stations that also function as post offices, convenience stores, cafés and meeting places.

The brief at a glance
Client
OK Västerbotten — member-owned cooperative
Locations
36 fuel stations · post offices, convenience stores, cafés
Brand promise
More Value Together
Recruitment campaign
Better Together

Background

North Sweden, Västerbotten county. Here, OK Västerbotten manages 36 fuel stations that also function as post offices, convenience stores, cafés and meeting places. In doing so, they facilitate life across the county, from coast to mountains — and they have the courage to talk about it in a positive, life-enhancing way.

The collaboration between the GlobalCom PR Network member agency and the cooperative (one of seven independent OK associations in Sweden) began at the end of 2012 and intensified in 2015 in connection with a change of management at OK Västerbotten. Since then, the agency has assisted in areas such as developing the association's new brand platform and communication strategy, as well as launching and updating their annual PR plan. The agency has also been a partner in business development — not least in OK Västerbotten's transition from analogue to digital ways of working.

The cornerstone of the relationship is ongoing, long-term collaboration, providing strategic consultancy, conceptual work and content for the association's own and earned channels. PR efforts aim to bring proof to the brand promise More Value Together, as well as the vision of providing "world-class" service to the people of Västerbotten.

Challenges

OK Västerbotten faced three major challenges:

  • Awareness. All stations within the county collaborate under the brand name OKQ8. OKQ8 is known by the public, but considerably fewer people know about OK Västerbotten, what it stands for, or the value it brings to the region and its members.
  • Rejuvenation. The association has many older, male members. It is striving to rejuvenate its membership and become more appealing to young women.
  • Engagement. Many of OK Västerbotten's members are inactive — they do not use their fuel station card, their membership, or their democratic rights within the association.

From these challenges, three PR goals were defined:

  • Further and wider reach with increased recognition.
  • Attracting more young people — rejuvenating the membership.
  • Increased engagement, enabling both digital and physical interaction.

Solution

Extensive work on brand insight led to the conclusion that OK Västerbotten represents values that are vital to today's young consumers:

  • Participation and co-ownership.
  • Sustainability.
  • Local connection.

Conscious and principled brands attract and create conscious and principled customers. Therefore, OK Västerbotten works intensively in three primary areas of sustainability: social, economic and environmental — for the benefit of customers, members and the region.

In collaboration with local energy company Umeå Energi, OK Västerbotten invested in electric vehicle charging points, which were installed and communicated during 2017. The head office, in Umeå, is now powered by solar cells. OK Västerbotten continues to invest in local and regional products and has developed a new food concept called Street Taste — a range of US-style street food made using produce from Västerbotten.

The more members OK Västerbotten attracts, the better the conditions for developing the stations — and life in the county. The more successful the cooperative is, the more its members get back in dividends. A financial and social cycle with many winners.

This insight, and the brand promise, permeates all strategic decisions and therefore all communication. The adopted solution was to abandon all traditional marketing and turn the focus to PR — engaging in a more personal dialogue directly with local customers, all based on the brand promise More Value Together and the campaign to recruit more and younger members: Better Together.

Results

From 2015 to 2017, the programme delivered measurable change across reach, recognition and commercial performance:

Results 2015 – 2017
4,000%
increase in editorial reach (2015–2017).
96%
organic reach growth on Facebook during 2017.
96%
brand recognition in Västerbotten county.
~94,000
members — a growing, more engaged association.
+€600k
improvement in operating profit (2015–2017).
About the client

OK Västerbotten

OK Västerbotten is a member-owned cooperative association in Sweden's Västerbotten county. The association manages 36 fuel stations that also function as post offices, convenience stores, cafés and meeting places — facilitating daily life across the county, from coast to mountains.

OK Västerbotten is one of seven independent OK associations in Sweden and invests across social, economic and environmental sustainability — including EV charging infrastructure, solar power at its head office, and local food and produce initiatives.