What’s the Story? Retailers Build Brand Identities On Store Shelves
Two key objectives are driving new packaging design strategy for own-label products at retail. Eye-catching, stand-out-from-the crowd identities are partnering with environmental-friendliness. Designers are tasked with establishing a distinctive look and feel, while materials are minimized and those used selected for their recyclability.
The consumer angle is essential, according to Food Processing. Richard Barkaway, creative director at Studio One Eleven, a division of Berlin Packaging, Chicago, believes, "Designing a successful package is all about shoppability and making the user experience enjoyable for the consumer. … Retailers are no longer interested in the [me-too] strategy and are now developing believable, authentic brands that consumers resonate with."
Packaging Digest’s editors, who judged some 200 American retailers’ submissions for the 2013 private label packaging awards, noted several trends: unique fonts, warm earth tones, stylized photography, high-quality printing for maximum shelf impact, whimsical designs targeted across age groups and limited editions which they said were "previously the domain of national brands."
As Kate Bertrand Connolly wrote last year in Food Processing, "Private label products are no longer the dowdy stepsisters of national brands." Using graphics to create identities easily spotted across the store gives an impression of both quality and consistency while emphasizing what she describes as the "’brand’ component of the store brand."
Todd Maute, of New York branding firm CBX, emphasized that if customers are satisfied with one private label product and then see similar packaging on a different shelf, "They’ll get the same perception. … The primary driver behind line looks is … to build a common story for the brand."
Target’s Simply Balanced brand, launched in June, was cited as an example of "strategically creating brands and unique package designs based off of what the consumer’s expectation is in that marketplace." Graphics were described as innovative by My Private Brand’s president, Christopher Durham, adding that the package design is "fun, straightforward and direct."
Discussion Questions
Do you see evidence of consumers changing their approach to store brands and, consequently, their perception of the retailer’s brand? Which retailers are most successfully using private label packaging to differentiate in the marketplace?
If it is true that consumers want good value, not just something cheap, then you can certainly enhance the value perception by making a better looking store brand. I’m not sure the “user experience” is so important in CPG, but certainly shopability, in terms of easily knowing what you’re buying, is. I think the key is to have a consistent look for your products (I like what Publix has done, for example, and Walmart’s Great Value line has certainly improved and integrated), just like branded products.
For retailers, the goal is to own a look. Proprietary graphics can transcend categories for private label brands.
This is an advantage for retailers that national brands don’t have. The retailer can apply its logo, colors, visuals and fonts throughout the store. National brands are more limited, especially if they use different names for products in various categories.
The private label reinforces its equity in every aisle. Therefore the return for the package design investment is greatest for the retailer that ensures the right look that is eye catching, registers the brand on sight, differentiates product benefits, and conveys an image that promotes sales.
Consumers have definitely changed their view of retailer brands. I also think the store brand “Wal-Itin,” Walgreens’ version of Claritin is different than creating a new brand, e.g., Simply Balanced at Target. When retailers create a new brand name, it may help with customers’ perception. It also helps that many retail brands get positioned as as good as or better than the national brand. And the creative and packaging is on par with the nationals. Staples does a great job with private label copy paper, and using packing to distinguish it for different uses.
Evidence of consumers changing their approach to store brands can be documented in the upward trend of share of categories that store brands are achieving. Great packaging that is consistent across the retail shelves enhances this trend by giving consumers the confidence in the brand that encourages them to try products in categories where they previously were national-brand loyal. The package is only as good as the product inside and that quality has to be the retailer’s first priority.
For years, I and others have been preaching to Private Label manufacturers to improve their product quality and packaging. As one who has participated in PLMA’s annual new product evaluation, I have seen marked improvement in both. The numbers tell same story—sales and share have grown every year. The expected sales increase from the recession occurred, but there has been no pullback as the economy improves. Consumers are no longer hiding the package. There appears to be only increasing sales and share for Private Label in the near future.
Yes, evidence has been mounting for years.
And as members of the supply chain side of the industry, we can certainly refer to these products as “private label.” However, to consumers, these ARE brands. Retailers that treat them as such (from the packaging, to what’s inside, to good shelf management) will win the battle of the storefronts.
Having attractive and eye-pleasing graphics on private label goods obviously is a plus. It can unify the store brand assortment throughout the store. But this also places pressure on the quality of all store brands. If just one —say, the one a shopper tries for the first time—is of poor quality, the shopper might be inclined to bypass all other private labels that can easily be identified with the unified package graphics.
Yes, evidenced from a non-scientific sampling of friends’ food cupboards and wardrobes (with permission of course), people are trusting their product experience to private labels, across a wide range of product types, be it dress shirts, OTC pharma, or eggs. Packaging certainly has an impact, but total experience is the real crux. In other words the best packing in the world may results in someone trying the product once, but unless it delights on other measures, it will be only a one-time purchase—and may be returned at that.
Retailers like Target, Loblaws, Wegmans, and Kroger have successfully built Private Brand strategies that differentiate and kept shoppers loyal in tough times.
By using multi-tier approaches, retailers can develop distinct brand identities in several categories. Own brands that align with retailer value proposition and deliver across categories keep shoppers coming back. Retailers also create “new brands” not associated with the store name, like Target Up & Up for value as well as Luxury brands. Packaging makes the difference here!
Holistic package design that captures shoppers attention from the shelf and then delivers a good usage experience drives repeat purchase. No matter how attractive the appearance, if the product value, quality or taste don’t measure up or a package is difficult to open, or doesn’t reseal properly, or fit on pantry shelves, shoppers will associate the design with that poor usage experience.
The average FDM retailer offers about 5,000 to 10,000 store brand SKUs. Yes, that many.
The operational complexity of such a volume of packaging is mind-boggling to those of us who are more familiar with the national-brand side. Even the big guys (like Kellogg, Coke, P&G, etc.) manage only a fraction of that number of SKUs.
Further complicating the matter is that most retailers offer multiple tiers (budget, epicurean, natural, fresh, OTC, household, baby, etc.). The store brand frequently crosses dozens of dissimilar categories. Also remember that most retailers operate through multiple banners. So as you see, a typical store-brand brand-manager has an infinitely more complex packaging task than does his or her national-brand counterpart.
The no-nonsense look of Walmart’s Great Value brand fits the Walmart promise. It has a consistent look from shelf to freezer to dairy case. Perhaps that consistency has find-ability value for the shopper. But it definitely has operational simplicity value to the retailer. They use a simple template design for each form factor and apply manufacturer-supplied photography. Done. Fewer designers, fewer handoffs, fewer approval gates, etc.
On the other hand, what Target has accomplished with Simply Balanced is truly impressive. It’s fun like the Target shopping experience promises. Each photo is individually art directed, each design is optimized for the specific form-factor and category. Far more manpower and deeper talent is required. This is not operationally simple … but the resulting shelf presence is remarkable.
So, when we look at branding and design for store brands, it is just as important to consider the operational implications as the consumer insights … and budget accordingly.
Both stores and consumers are adapting and changing their approach to store brands and perception. Packaging changes daily, becoming brighter and more simple. Also, many brands are changing their packaging, tailoring it to look like more expensive items. Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Target are effectively using ads and private label packaging to keep loyal customers and also gain new ones.