The Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management to People at Work

Appendix 2: Tesco Case Study

With over 960 stores and 230 000 employees, Tesco has risen to become the most dominant supermarket chain in the UK and the most successful at exporting this success into international markets. Tesco’s leadership team claim that the company’s growing market share and profitability are directly connected to the superior service customers receive from its employees. The high levels of employee satisfaction and commitment that underpin this performance have, in turn, been supported by the development of a powerful employer brand proposition and values that provide consistent touchstones for every management action that impacts on the employee experience.

The Business Context

In 1992 it was a different story. Tesco was Britain’s second biggest supermarket chain, but struggling. European discount stores were beginning to make inroads into Britain, and investment analysts feared that the young profile of Tesco’s customer base would put them at greater danger than their main rivals. Tesco’s share price fell by 40%.

It was the year that the future CEO, Terry Leahy, was appointed marketing director. As he recalls: ‘It was a defining period and from that time we began to change the philosophy and direction of the business.’ Tesco’s recovery strategy was to listen more carefully to customers and drive innovation to meet their needs better than any other retailer.

Transforming the Customer Experience

In the next few years, under the new marketing tagline ...