I’m sure most of us have picked up a blue bottle of supermarket own label bleach, squeezy-bottle ketchup or silver-foil butter without questioning whether the concept originated with a national brand or not.
Retailers have, after all, been developing their own versions of established products for years – something that has led to the adoption of certain colours and packaging types, and the standardisation of grocery categories. As well as helping store teams to group products on the shelves more effectively, helping to maximise visual impact, consistency in design and sizing also enables customers to identify what they need quickly and easily.
But more recently, some supermarket retailers with high levels of private brands have been accused of pushing the boundaries on imitation a step too far. A number of national brand owners are, unsurprisingly, angry about losing potential market share to their lower-priced competitors, especially when they have invested so heavily in R&D and marketing strategies to differentiate their products. One of the ironies, of course, is that some national brands also produce private label goods for supermarkets, so imitation can offer another revenue stream.
Whether or not a retailer has infringed intellectual property laws or deliberately misled customers is a matter for the courts, though I doubt any legal action will quell the tide of products that look like their well-known counterparts.
One reason is that the UK private label market is now so fast-moving and diverse that that retailers will naturally respond to the latest consumer trends, capitalising on public awareness to generate sales. Perhaps the debate has intensified so much because supermarkets are not simply trying to pass off inferior ranges in premium packaging – they are also competing on quality and managing to keep their prices lower.
If own label products meet shoppers’ expectations around sustainability, luxury, free-from or whatever it might be, why would they look elsewhere? Today, even market-leading ‘original’ brands cannot afford to be complacent because it’s normally only a matter of time before retailers unveil their own versions that apparently tick the same boxes.
As the ‘fake farms’ scandal that erupted two years ago demonstrated, retailers who develop the right packaging but fail to deliver on product experience (in that case, provenance) risk misleading customers and attracting controversy. The powerful and ethically-minded Millennial market, in particular, is unlikely to respond well to something that doesn’t align with their values.
This is, I believe, the crux of the argument. Success for any brand, whether private or national, comes down to how well a product performs overall. What is the brand promise, and does the product deliver on this promise? Going well beyond whether a product merely looks like another, the process involves finding out what drives consumer behaviour, based on feedback (online, in-store and via the call centre), panel testing, sales and returns.
The fact that supermarkets are being criticised for copying other brands is a sign of just how far the private label market has evolved in recent decades. Whether they like it or not, the big players are working in a ‘new reality’ where they are no longer the only or top choice for consumers. What it underlines, more than anything, is the importance of brands knowing their position and the marketplace.
As consumers continue to demand greater transparency, they will be expected to report easily on a product’s nutritional value, ingredients, provenance and so on. Only by acting on intelligence, and not just jumping on the latest trend, can private brands plan their next move and remain competitive.
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