Take notice of this business model

The UN has declared 2012:

This MaRS blog entry by Joanna Reynolds sums it up nicely:

Building a better world through co-operative enterprises.

When the common needs of members are served, versus the needs of shareholders; when profits are allocated to the most active members, versus those who own the most shares, well then how does that impact how you brand a cooperative?

When there are seven principles that unite co-operatives around the world…

1.     Voluntary and open membership
2.     Democratic member control
3.     Member economic participation
4.     Autonomy and independence
5.     Education, training and information
6.     Co-operation among co-operatives
7.     Concern for community

…then how does one cooperative distinguish itself from the next?  After all at Studio Pinpoint we are firmly grounded in building differentiated brands that reflect the culture and values of an organization.  What if that culture and those values are the same across a wide swath or organizations?  What then?

Well the answer is simple really.  The values across a broad cross section of cooperatives may be the same, but the people in each are different.  The brand is then built on the vision these people have for the cooperative and the personality they bring to the organization.

And, if you’re wondering if brand is important in a cooperative, the answer is yes.  Your brand is who you are and if you don’t know who you are you won’t keep the members you have or attract new ones.  Cooperatives exist because they have members.  Knowing who you are, building your brand story on a common vision that is entrenched in the personality trait of the membership will create a strong, unique, differentiated (and most importantly) authentic co-op brand!