Brand Management
Retail
Brands
Private
Label Products
Continued
In the case of private label
credit cards, it is the name or logo of the
retailer coupled with the inherent style of branding that, combined
together,
give rise to the appeal and marketability of the card. The provision of
credit
facilities on such cards is normally provided by a third-party issuer
as part
of a growing trend whereby retailers prefer to outsource their in-house
programmes.
In recent
years, there has been a marked upsurge in the emergence,
globally, of private label brands. In the case of
Europe,
private label goods currently represent in the order of 45% of all the
products
sold in supermarkets. On the other hand, in the
USA,
this figure is around 25%. In
terms of specifics, Wal-Mart is an excellent example in that 40% of the
products sold in its stores are marketed under a private label brand.
The
private label concept has been enthusiastically adopted by many Pacific
Rim
countries, such as
Australia,
Singapore,
and
Japan
where its in-store presence is noteworthy.
In
the past, there was a popular
conception that private label goods were seen as a combination of
low-priced,
low-quality products. However, in recent years, the public perception
in
respect of the quality of such goods has improved. Coupled with this
has been
that fact that companies themselves have begun using the private label
to
market higher quality goods with the aim of increasing their brand
image.
Furthermore, recent market research studies have indicated that
consumers are
exhibiting a greater willingness to purchase private label products
resulting
from their enhanced image and quality.
The
recent growth in the
availability of private label products has led to the emergence of
grocery
chains who specifically sell such products. Two leading examples
include:
Trader
Joe’s – This is a
privately owned chain of grocery stores whose forte is in the sale of
speciality goods. It is a
US
company with over half of its outlets centred in and around
California.
Aldi – Which is an abbreviated form of ALbrechtDIscount,
is a discounted supermarket chain centred in
Germany.
It has stores
throughout
Germany
and
across many parts of
Europe.
An interesting
piece of market research has shown that the majority of Germans shop at
Aldi. The stores strictly
“no frills"
concept is evident in the fact that it does not decorate the aisles or
fill the
shelves. Instead, pallets of the products, packed individually in
cardboard
boxes, are situated alongside the aisles, with customers removing the
products
until the pallets are eventually emptied.
Private
Label Manufacturers
The
Association of Private Label
Manufacturers, or PLMA, has designated the manufacturers of private
label
products into four distinct groups:
Large
Manufacturers – Large
national brand manufacturers who apply their unused plant capacity
together
with their expertise in order to supply store brands.
Small
Manufacturers – Small,
quality manufacturers whose speciality is certain product lines and who
focus
on producing primarily store brands. It is not uncommon for such
manufacturers
to be part of larger corporations who themselves produce national
brands.
Major
Retailers – Major retailers
and wholesalers with in-house manufacturing facilities who produce
store
branded products for their own use.
Regional
Manufacturers – Regional
brand manufacturers who supply private label goods to one or more
specified
markets.
Branding
– How To Succeed
Peter
Radford writes
Articles with Websites on a wide range of subjects. Branding
Articles cover What Is A Brand, Brand
Characteristics, Brand Manager, What Makes A Good Brand.
His Website
contains
over 70 Branding Articles
View
his Website
at: branding-how-to-succeed.com
This Article may be republished
so long as the
Resource Box and entire contents remain in tact.
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