Stuart Elliott: Keeping a Public Eye on Private Labels

It39s interesting to contemplate the concept of a brand that isn39t a brand it sounds like a Zen koan amp160Yet of course a brandless brand is nothing new amp160Shoppers with long memories will recall the generic products of the 3970s and 3980s with their plain packaging and blackandwhite labels amp160More recently there has been a spate of online retailers creating products bearing their own brand names from AmazonBasics at Amazoncom to Dollar Shave Club to Uniquely J at JetcomYou can add to those a lengthy list of private labels that have been popular for a while among them Kirkland at Costco Trader Joe39s and 365 Everyday Value at Whole Foods Market Put them all together and toss in the house brands at giant supermarket chains like Kroger and Publix and I39d suggest we have a new phenomenon public labelsPublic labels are different from private labels of the past which softpedaled their presence on store shelves because they were aimed primarily at priceconscious shoppers many of whom felt vaguely embarrassed that they weren39t purchasing famous name brands amp160I recall the days of social stratification at the AampampP on Avenue L in Canarsie Brooklyn between shoppers who filled their carts with household names such as Del Monte and Wonder Bread and those who opted for the store brands such as Ann Page and Jane ParkerPublic labels by contrast proudly proclaim how they differ from the nationally sold nationally advertised packaged goods produced by mass marketers amp160And they seek to create a cachet or aura around themselves as if they were public versions of private clubs it39s as if each had a motto on its website or front entrance proclaiming quotAren39t you smart to be enough in the know to buy thisquotThe rise of shopping as a sport has benefited public labels in that if you39re so inclined you can39t wait to tell friends and family members about the great buy you got with suchandsuch a store brandLikewise the rise of online reviews has been good to public labels strangers sharing shopping secrets can supplant the need to rely on the implied promise of a brand name to guarantee quality reliability and value amp160In other words no longer are concerned consumers required to look for quotLibby39s Libby39s Libby39s on the label label labelquotIt39s little wonder then that according to Nielsen data shared by PLMA the Private Label Manufacturers Association more than one out of every five products sold last year was a store brand with sales of ownbrands reaching nearly 160 billion amp160I had the pleasure recently of being interviewed for quotPLMA Livequot a video series that appears on the PLMA website and the discussion there generated some of my thoughts about public labelsHow ought name brands respond to the rise of public labels Well it certainly would be nice if they39d increase their budgets for advertising marketing and promotion which seem these days to be cut more often than they39re added to amp160Time and time again the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies have stressed the stimulative effects of such spending on product sales amp160But stressedout chief marketing officers faced with shorttermoriented chief executive officers who shortsightedly deem advertising an expense instead of an investment often retreat when they ought to be advancingAnother way name brands can tackle their publiclabel rivals would be to do more in the realm of what39s known as cause marketing or prosocial marketing amp160The idea that say a branded detergent stands for something more than getting your laundry whiter than white could be a powerful counterpoint to a storebrand detergent peddled largely on the basis of its lower priceTake for instance Starbucks which has taken stands on social and political issues like race amp160quotStarbucks is not profitdrivenquot declared Howard Schultz who will step down as the firm39s executive chairman later this month amp160quotStarbucks is valuesdriven and as a result of those values we have become very profitablequotYes it39s corny but there are customers who want to hear such messages from the executives who oversee the brands they buy or are thinking of buying amp160And yes there are risks to taking sides on contentious issues of the day but it appears lately that it may be riskier to not announce where you stand than to do so Besides some public labels already are engaged in cause marketing among them Amazon with its AmazonSmile initiative that donates to charitable organizationsAs for all those emails from that most Zen of public labels Brandless yes I gave in thanks to an offer for free shipping and ordered several products amp160The standouts are the organic popcorn in two flavors olive oil and sea salt white cheddar at two for 3Cookies shaped like maple leaves pale next to their apparent inspiration Dare Maple Leaf Creme Cookies amp160The Tree Free Lunch Napkins turned out to be made in China amp160And the jury39s out on the foam handsoap which I haven39t tried yetEditor39s Note Look for the next Stuart Elliott Report on Wednesday July 11Photo credit Peter BondUnsplashClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Stuart Elliott: Keeping a Public Eye on Private Labels

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Stuart Elliott: Keeping a Public Eye on Private Labels

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