Brand Positioning for Store Brands Require Research
Posted by John Grafton on Fri, Feb 03, 2012 @ 07:00 AM
When I was growing-up, we always bought name brand items versus the store or private-label items because the perception was that name brand items were of higher quality than store brands since they were advertised more in print and on TV.
However, recent studies by several consumer research firms show that people’s perceptions of store brands have changed. Although store brand or private-label products still cost about 30% less than the name brands, it appears that it’s much less about price and more about value these days.
A study by Clarkston Consulting showed that nearly a third of major grocery and drugstore chain customers didn’t cite price as a factor in choosing store brands over name brands – it was more about loyalty and positive experiences at those stores.
And store brands aren’t just cheap copies of name brand products any longer. In fact, in some categories, the store brand is the most expensive item in the category, due to the positioning of store brands’ private labels as gourmet or specialty. Even packaging sometimes distinguishes store brands with small changes such as re-sealable packages and listing the ingredients prominently on the front of the package. Further, chain drug and grocery stores are actively promoting their own brands through aggressive social media site campaigns.
This shift isn’t just for people either. According to a new study by MarketResearch.com, 49% of pet product buyers are buying more store brand products than national brands these days, since they feel that store brand pet products are as good as the national name products.
Of course the current economy is a factor in consumers trying store brands more extensively than before but also a regular program of brand positioning research makes these moves by store chains possible. If the store chains weren’t confident in their brands’ competitiveness, based on brand research, they could miss a golden opportunity to get people to make the change from name brands to store brands.
Have you switched to buying more store brands than name brands? Why?
