Co-op Maltesers Fairtrade Campaign

Working with Mars Wrigley, we were briefed to develop a theatrical in-store display to support the Co-op and Maltesers Fairtrade cocoa campaign. The collaboration brought together shared brand values around Fairtrade, raising awareness of the role it plays in supporting women cocoa farmers and their communities.

The challenge was to translate the campaign’s visual identity into a standout retail execution, working within Co-op’s retail guidelines while creating an engaging display that would capture shoppers’ attention and bring the campaign story to life.

Taking responsibility for the creative direction, I led the development of the display, working closely with our 2D and 3D designers to explore how the campaign identity could be extended into a distinctive three-dimensional retail experience.

The original campaign key visual, developed by another agency, featured an illustrated cocoa branch. We explored how this could be expanded into a more immersive visual feature, developing the branch into a full tree as the centrepiece of our display.

With a particularly tight turnaround, I directed an initial exploration of 3D design concepts through sketches. This allowed us to quickly visualise and evaluate different creative approaches before presenting options to the client and agreeing the preferred direction.

Following client approval, I led the refinement of the selected concept into the final display design, ensuring the 2D graphics and 3D structural elements worked together as a cohesive execution.

Throughout development, we balanced the ambition of the creative concept with Co-op’s retail guidelines, ensuring the final solution delivered strong visual impact while remaining appropriate for the retail environment.

The display formed part of a wider integrated Co-op and Maltesers co-creation campaign, supporting the Buy, Scan, Donate initiative. For every participating pack purchased, Maltesers pledged a donation to the Fairtrade Foundation to support women cocoa farmers and their communities.

The wider campaign combined standout theatrical in-store media with targeted digital advertising and member communications. Co-op subsequently highlighted the collaboration as an example of how shared brand values can turn everyday purchases into something more meaningful.