Private-label brands

Article • WARC Best Practice, May 2020

This article explores the impact of the rise of private label brands on retailers and traditional consumer goods' manufacturers.

Six key lessons for CPG brands and retailers from the last recession

Article • Joan Driggs, WARC Exclusive, May 2020

Applies six lessons from the last recession to today's uncertainty around customer loyalty, the rise of private label, right pricing, sacrificing non-essentials, the joy of upgrading and discounting leads to changing habits.

Three challenges brands need to overcome in e-commerce

Article • Chris Perry, WARC Exclusive, March 2020

The e-commerce landscape is rapidly changing, with new challenges arise that brands need to be ready to tackle.

How Tesco used insight to guide the strategy and execution of a new entry tier range

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for Applications of Research, 2019

Tesco, a supermarket brand, used insight to guide its strategy and execution of a new entry tier range, to fight back and reclaim its brand position among competitors in the UK.

Western supermarkets try to adapt to Chinese habits

News • 02 September 2019

Western supermarket chains have often struggled to adapt to the differing shopping habits of Chinese consumers, but those who intend to remain are increasingly focusing on ‘private label’ products and partnerships with e-commerce ...

From private label to private brand

News • 06 July 2018

EUROPE: Private label’s value share is growing by 4% a year across European grocery markets and reached 39.4% in 2017, according to new research which reports that private label outperforms national brands in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Matsumoto Kiyoshi Holdings: End Embarrassment

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Matsumoto Kiyoshi Holdings, a drugstore chain in Japan, increased its share in the toilet paper category by redesigning its brand packaging to eliminate shame.

Waitrose 1

Case Study • Design Business Association, Silver, 2018

Waitrose, the UK supermarket chain, launched its new premium own brand label Waitrose 1 with a successful understated new design.

What’s next for FMCG health & wellness in 2018

Article • Katherine Allmandinger, WARC Webinars, February 2018

Katherine Allmandinger, Manager of Strategic Insights Health & Wellness at Nielsen, explores the health and wellness trends happening across the store that are leading manufacturers and retailers to meaningful growth.

Vietnamese shoppers turn to private label

News • 18 January 2018

HO CHI MINH CITY: Private label currently accounts for a fraction of retail sales in Vietnam but that is set to change as modern retail spreads across the country.

The race for attention at the fixtures: How grocery brands are losing £4 billion in revenue

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, Marketing Week Live, March 2017

This event report describes how neuroscience can help brands avoid lost sales to copycat supermarket own-brands by protecting fundamental signals of packaging design.

Booths Own Label

Case Study • Design Business Association, Gold, 2017

This case study describes the design changes made by Booths, a premium food manufacturer in the UK that simplified its own labelling to encourage a consistent perception of brand quality across all its items.

Superdrug Facial Cleansing Wipes

Case Study • Design Business Association, Silver, Design Effectiveness Awards, 2016

This case study describes how Superdrug used redesigned packaging to project the quality, efficacy and expertise of its own-brand facial wipes in the UK whilst retaining its 99p price point.

HyperCITY EveryDay: Journey from a private label to an ambitious brand

Case Study • Swati Baweja, Puja Shidolkar and Saswata Das, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2015

This case study explains how HyperCITY, a retail hypermarket in India, revamped its flagship brand, Everyday, with a new identity and brand personality.

Refine packaging design through neuroscience

Article • Felicetta Ortica, Thom Noble and Darren Bridger, Admap, October 2015, pp. 10-13

This article shares findings from neuroscience research into the role of packaging in shaping consumer perception and triggering purchase, using an example from Tesco, the UK supermarket chain.

Brand fight-back against private label: too little, too late?

Article • Tim Eales, Market Leader, Quarter 4, 2015, pp. 14-15

This article investigates whether the major supermarkets have already lost too much ground to the discounters to make a recovery.

Booths: Brand identity

Case Study • Design Business Association, Silver, Design Effectiveness Awards, 2015

This case study explains how Booths, an independently run chain of food, drink and grocery stores in the North West of England, achieved a rise in sales in a cut-throat market by adopting a new corporate identity.

Shopper marketing: Grocery discount wars

Article • Tim Eales, Admap, February 2015, pp. 42-43

This article argues that FMCG manufacturers and grocery retailers need to review their approach to promotions to tackle declining volume sales, putting transparency at the centre of pricing.

Brand equity and store brand tiers: An analysis based on an experimental design

Research Paper • Óscar González-Benito, Mercedes Martos-Partal and Mariana Fustinoni-Venturini, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2015, pp. 73-94

The creation of strong brands interests manufacturers and distributors, as well as researchers. However, previous investigations of brand equity have focused almost exclusively on manufacturers’ brands, without considering the brand equity of store brands.

Loblaw's Canadian power strike: mass customization for generics

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, Dx3 Canada, March 2014

This event report explains how Loblaw Companies Ltd., the Canadian retail giant, has created a powerful private-label portfolio and increasingly personalized its marketing communications.

SuperValu: We Believe brand campaign

Case Study • Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, Silver, AdFx Awards, 2014

This case study describes how Supervalu, an Irish retailer, returned to its core values to increase market share in a competitive market.

Big data conundrum: Taking steps to overcome consumer privacy and security issues

Article • Daniel L Jaffe, ANA Magazine, Spring, 2014

This article discusses concerns about data privacy in the US and the merits of self-regulation versus state legislation.

10 supermarket trends

Article • Paul Hinds, WARC Trends, May 2014, pp. 18-19

This article describes 10 trends in supermarkets, driven by changing consumer habits following economic recession.

Brand growth 2.0: The only global language in a local dialect

Research Paper • Raluca Răschip, Richard Herbert and Oliver Koll, ESOMAR, CEE Research Forum, Bucharest, March 2014

This paper explains what is driving brand growth and inspiring manufacturers and retailers towards profitable business in the FMCG sector, presenting findings from a study of brands across 70 categories in Europe.

Tesco: Everyday Value packaging - Redefining a sector to meet new needs

Case Study • Design Business Association, Gold, Design Effectiveness Awards 2014

This case study describes how Tesco, the UK supermarket, redesigned its Value product range to improve quality perceptions and grow sales.

Private & own-label brands