How Can Value-Centred Marketing Revitalise Mutual Aid Organisations in Luxembourg ?

Abstract

Mutual aid organisations are built on solidarity, but their value is not obvious to everyone or at the same moment. This thesis asks how value-centred marketing can help revitalise mutual aid organisations in Luxembourg. It examines CGPM as an exploratory longitudinal case without treating one organisation as representative of the entire sector.

Value emerged as individual and situational. Some participants focused on financial protection, while others valued reassurance, belonging or the principle of shared protection. Some interviewees described membership itself as a “protective shield”, even though they had never made a claim. Before the pilot, CGPM had not tested these differences and communicated a largely uniform, product-centred offer.

The research combines administrative records, a survey of 695 members, targeted feedback, interviews, approximately 100 exploratory conversations with non-members and evidence from the implementation process. Customer-perceived value, dual value creation and the House of Customer Centricity provide the theoretical basis for the analysis.

The results show a gap between the value CGPM provided and the value people understood. Although 76.5% of respondents were satisfied and 85.0% would recommend CGPM, 74.5% associated it primarily with death. Interviews also challenged assumptions that had influenced earlier marketing decisions: that sensitive life events could not be communicated meaningfully; that younger people had little interest in support relating to birth, health and bereavement; that communication needed to remain institutional and administrative; that French alone was sufficient in Luxembourg’s multilingual environment; and that tax deductibility had little relevance. The problem was not simply a lack of interest. It was also a mismatch between what the organisation communicated and what different people considered valuable.

The pilot moved from product-centred promotion towards listening, multilingual and more human communication, process improvement, measurement and a review of benefits, statutes and governance. The case shows that value-centred marketing can support renewal by making mutual aid understandable before the moment of need, replacing internal assumptions with stakeholder evidence and aligning the value proposition with communication and organisational practice.

Early outcomes include increased marketing investment and Paperjam’s dedicated Mutuelle category. Following the presentation of the CGPM pilot at the CMCM Congress on 29 June 2026, delegates representing Luxembourg’s mutual aid community collectively approved the use of part of the Contribution à la solidarité (CAS). This financial reserve had been built up by and belonged to the mutual aid community. It will finance a full-time marketer responsible for applying value-centred marketing across the sector. This decision moved the work from an organisational pilot to a sector-level commitment. Its longer-term effects on affiliation, retention and organisational renewal still need to be measured.