Defense Commissary Agency
MORE THAN A GROCERY STORE
The Commissary isn't just a grocery store for the U.S. military—it helps shape and define what the experience of “community” within the military means. W|W was tasked with providing a cohesive brand strategy and framework to help shape the Commissary's brand to serve today’s military community. Over a ten-month process, the research phase of the project included the following components:
• 144 In-depth interviews with DeCA stakeholders (primarily internal audiences)
• 11,745 On-line surveys
• 623 Intercept interviews
• 85 Shop-along interviews
• 18 Focus groups
• 10 Base visits throughout the US and Europe
• Competitive analysis
• Industry best-practices report
![](/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTUvMDgvMDQvNXVydWF2amowb19XV19jb21taXNzYXJ5X2JyYW5kX3NsaWRlMi5qcGciXV0/WW_commissary_brand_slide2.jpg)
The research effort revealed a variety of insights that were translated into actionable opportunities via a blueprint, or brand strategy, for the Commissary. At the heart of the strategy was W|W’s development of the Commissary’s brand framework, anchored by a brand promise and supported with a messaging matrix. For each key insight, W|W surfaced several tactical recommendations that the Commissary could pursue and illustrated how the new brand strategy might look if deployed into the current operational environment.
![](/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTUvMDgvMDQvNGQ1ZXdyc3oxc19XV19jb21taXNzYXJ5X2JyYW5kX3NsaWRlMy5qcGciXV0/WW_commissary_brand_slide3.jpg)
![](/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTUvMDgvMDQvNWFja3k1am5yNl9XV19jb21taXNzYXJ5X2JyYW5kX3NsaWRlNC5qcGciXV0/WW_commissary_brand_slide4.jpg)
An outcome of the brand strategy was the development of the Brand Ambassador's Handbook, which summarizes the culmination of the research and strategy into a tactical, practical and easy-to-understand guide.