Be Bold

BE BOLD. THE FUTURE IS NOW!

The last fifty years of private labels have evolved from low-quality generics to cheap private labels designed to imitate national brands to private brands developed to be as good as or better than national brand products with slowly improving package design.

The evolution has created an industry of retailers, manufacturers, product developers, and designers purpose-built to mimic and copy. This expertise has grown the Retail Brand (private brand) industry to more than 20% penetration in North America, with most of Europe exceeding 30% and the U.K impressively reaching 47%+ (Nielsen). All of which is an impressive feat.

The World Stopped

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic. The announcement followed a rising sense of alarm in the preceding months over a new, potentially lethal virus swiftly spreading worldwide. Consumer panic buying ensued, online delivery became the overnight norm, and both retail and private brands changed forever.

So, what’s next? How do we move forward?

What will create prosperity and continued growth for the private brand industry over the next fifty years?

Be Bold. The Future is Now!

The pandemic has created an unprecedented opportunity for the Retail Brand (private brand) industry to augment its “National Brand Equivalent” expertise with a confident boldness. Bold confidence positions the industry not simply to follow but to lead.

We must express Bold in three primary ways:

CHRISTOPHER DURHAM

President

VELOCITY INSTITUTE

Fearlessly Innovate

We must move past Innovation as a buzzword that yields little and redefine Innovation as a fearless revolution. The last two years have made it imperative that we question every brand, strategy, and product. Then revaluate, redefine, and reinvent. Unless your billion-dollar brand inspires love, creates loyalty, and drives traffic, it is a label that must be destroyed and reborn as a Brand.

Customer Focused

The consumer/shopper/customer has changed immeasurably over the pandemic, new habits created, new skills learned. Old patterns and behaviors are gone, and new ones are defining the future of retail and private brands. Retailers who manage private brands and the manufacturers who produce the products have long talked about consumer obsession. The words appear often in everything from training materials to annual planning, yet the words have had little impact on the brands, products, or experiences.

Customer focus must be Bold and obsessive. It must create solutions and not products. It must look beyond the transactional and disposable to build and grow Brands that help her live a better life.

Sustainably Obsessed

Major global events have a way of shaping the habits of the generations that come of age during them. The evidence is clear that the pandemic will be to Generation Z what the Great Recession was to Millennials. The pandemic didn’t start the sustainability revolution, but it has hyper-accelerated it, and Gen Z is its most passionate advocate. Retailers who embrace sustainability as a differentiator and foundational belief could not only win with Gen Z but Millennials and Gen X.

Sustainability creates three clear advantages: 1. Younger Consumers Love It. 2. Cost Savings: Smart and efficient package design can eliminate unnecessary material and save money. 3. Reduces Waste: Removing extraneous packaging and reducing material creates less waste. This reduces the cost and challenge of disposal across the entire chain.

The next fifty years will be led by Retail Brands (private brands) – are you Bold enough to lead?

Christopher Durham

Christopher Durham is the president of the Velocity Institute. Prior to this he founded the groundbreaking site My Private Brand. He is the co-founder of The Vertex Awards. He began his retail career building brands at Food Lion and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Durham has worked with retailers around the world, including Albertsons, Family Dollar, Petco, Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, Metro Canada. Durham has published seven definitive books on private brands, including Fifty2: The My Private Brand Project and Vanguard: Vintage Originals.