NEW YORK-Faced with a choice of a well-known
national brand vs.
* ua Each own-brand sanitary napkin and tampon item carries a "compare to" statement, making it easier for shoppers to make the switch from the
national brand.
The survey discovered that many organic products on the shelves had a private label product but sometimes did not have a
national brand counterpart.
"In a traditional
national brand equivalency scenario, a product was tested and that data was compared to that of a corresponding
national brand," says Brett LaFrance, North America sales director for the consumer business unit at UL Verification Services Inc.
We discovered that some private brand categories are actually up because of
national brand fumbles in not matching innovation.
The study results indicate that consumers who choose the retailer's brand for products on the list rather than the
national brand could save, on average, $44.04 off their total market basket--a savings of 35.7%.
By contrast, in the fluid milk category, store brands have taken over to the extent that very few of our respondents even had a perception of
national brand quality.
We can lead in that space and the default doesn't have to be the
national brand equivalent in terms of packaging.
"Quite often, the
national brand owner is tied to their own innovation pipeline and their own manufacturing processes in order to create and market their products," Beckman explains.
For example,
national brand manufacturers are perceived to be stronger in product development, category management and technology.
Axelrod pointed to the sales power of a successful
national brand, relating an anecdote of how Royal Velvet towels outperformed a private label brand that had better quality and a better price.
In general, product placement is to the right of the equivalent
national brand.
