By Nicola Huckerby
1,000 co-ops in 91 countries have so far shown that they are proud to be part of a global movement that is a force for good, by adopting the global Co-operative Identity.
During the first year we’ve heard of co-ops using the Marque on their websites, emails, publications, products, social media, signage and events. Many have said that the new ‘logo’ for co-ops helps to differentiate them from other forms of business and none more so than when they use the Marque alongside a .coop domain.
Among them, the Ontario Cooperative Association (On Co-op) has been using all aspects of the Alliance’s toolkit including the marque, domain name and other materials, to help promote and strengthen the movement while encouraging others to do the same.
The Association, which is itself a co-operative, has adopted the co-operative identity in 2005. It has used the co-operative marque in many of its communications and marketing materials, including print and electronic communications, power-point presentations, event branding, social media, e-mail auto signatures, and other avenues. On Co-op has a membership base of over 60 co-ops, federations and sector stakeholders, representing about 85% of co-operatives in Ontario.
“The Alliance’s identity and marque allows us to more effectively promote co-operatives across the province. It brands us as a participant and proponent of the global co-operative movement, and allows us to co-brand in conjunction with our existing look and logo. Moreover, the .COOP domain provides us an online presence that is simple and reflective of our organisation”, said Audrey Aczel, Communications & Event Manager at the Ontario Co-operative Association.
Other co-operative provincial associations in Canada have started using the marque, including Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, the country’s apex organisation.
“CMC adopted canada.coop as our primary domain because it acts as a standalone identifier of who we are. Apart from being simple and memorable, it also adds a descriptive component that lets even uninitiated people know what we are and what the web site is about. We have also created micro sites, tools.coop & governance.coop that we believe have the same self evident and simple identity”, explained Denyse Guy of CMC.
Ultimately, our collective aim is for the co-operative identity to become one of the best-known ethical marques in the world by 2020 with users in 100 countries. A .coop domain is FREE for the first year if you have not had one before, and the Co-operative Marque is FREE upon application. We hope that you are excited by the co-operative identity and look forward to receiving your application at www.identity.coop. Together we can help make it easier for people to be more aware of what they are choosing when faced with the option between a co-operative or an investor or privately-owned business and show support for co-operation around the world.
