Store Brand or National Brand?

American Shoppers Find it Increasingly Difficult to Tell Them Apart—and Don’t Much Care

Private label, as a brand, certainly has come a long way. Evidence that many stores brands can now rival iconic national brands is on display in the latest Hartman Group report “Private Label 2010: Redefining Meaning of Brand.”

“In many instances, shoppers no longer can distinguish between national and private label brands,” says Hartman Group Senior Vice President Michelle Barry, Ph.D. “What’s most interesting is not so much the fact that it’s happening, but that people don’t really care that they don’t know the difference. The importance of branding and, to some extent, the badge value of brands in the past, is quickly giving way to a greater emphasis on the product and the overall experience controlled by the retailer.”

While the vast majority of shoppers are able to correctly identify many legacy national brands such as Tropicana and Kashi, only one-fourth of shoppers can correctly identify newer or specialty brands as national brands such as Seventh Generation, Method or Muir Glen.

“A lot of retailers want ‘credit’ for their private label brands which many aren’t receiving,” says Barry. “This clearly points to new opportunities for private label brands to dominate newer categories such as the natural/organic marketplace, sustainability or functional foods. The ultimate success here will be in retailers’ ability to manage store brands as ‘brands’ rather than merely a product with a store name on the label.”

The report presents the consumer perspective on private label that includes:

* Impact of the economy of private label
* New consumer definition of “value”
* Key drivers of private label and national brand usage
* Private label adoption pathway
* Brand switching
* 31 category-level examples and brand scorecards

About the Report

Private Label 2010: Redefining Meaning of Brand is available from The Hartman Group, the leading provider of insights into consumer behavior, culture and trends. The report delivers a consumer-up, rather than industry-down, approach to building private label brands. It offers a glimpse into what the future holds for national brands competing with the next realities of private label products, brands and marketing. For more information contact: Blaine Becker at: blaine@hartman-group.com