Private Label Brands Take the Lead from National Brands
March 21, 2012
Private label brands are no longer just the cheap alternative to national brand products, and there is no stigma around purchasing private label brands rather than national brands anymore. In fact, private label brands are a must-have for many consumers these days. According to AdAge, private label brand sales accounted for 33% of total sales at Target in 2010, and in 2011, they accounted for 50% of sales at Kohl’s. The reason is simple. These private label brands are truly competitive alternatives to the national brands they sit beside on retail shelves.
AdAge suggests that the growth in retail giant private label brands comes from clever marketing. Rather than positioning their private label brands as inexpensive generic brands, they’ve positioned them as exclusive store brands. They’re not the cheap knock-off brands that many consumers once perceived store brands to be. Today, the fact that products have the private label brand on them is a point of differentiation that consumers are willing to accept and pay for. It’s a huge win for the stores and companies behind these private label brands that leads to overall store loyalty.
The growth in private label brands isn’t new. Back in 2009, I wrote about private label brands showing impressive growth and about how economic considerations, value and store brands would dominate purchase trends in 2010. I followed up in 2010, explaining that 9 out of 10 consumers agree — store brands and national brands are equal. In 2011, store brands were still going strong.
Suffice it to say, the growth of private label brands shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. As long as the companies behind those private label brands continue to offer products that provide the right level of perceived value, consumers will keep buying them. Consumer perceptions regarding private label brands have shifted, and now, the onus is on national brands to demonstrate the added value their traditionally more expensive products provide.
As private label brands continue to steal shelf space and market share, the tables have turned and national brands have to differentiate themselves from private label brands. Consumers want to know why they should spend more on a national brand when the less expensive private label brand is perceived as an equivalent and credible alternative. It’s up to the national brands to respond.
Image: Flickr
Pepsi Launches New Tagline for Pepsi Next
March 14, 2012
Pepsi Next is coming to U.S. consumers and it’s bringing a new tagline that tells those consumers, you have to “Drink it to believe it.”
This isn’t the first time a soft drink brand has tried to launch a mid-calorie beverage with less sugar and calories than the regular version of the soft drink but more sugar and more calories than the diet version. It’s the middle-of-the road choice that Americans haven’t embraced in the past.
Pepsi believes that will all change with the launch of Pepsi Next in late March 2012, because Pepsi Next actually tastes good. Pepsi conducted many taste tests with consumers and its own bottlers. The results were consistently positive. People liked the taste of Pepsi Next. The bigger obstacle for Pepsi would be convincing people to try it when previous attempts by many brands and companies to crack this market have failed.
Enter the new Pepsi Next tagline — “Drink it to believe it.” Very simply, the tagline is telling consumers that you don’t have to believe what Pepsi says about its product. Try it yourself, and then decide for yourself. Once you drink it, you’ll believe it — Pepsi Next is good.
But Pepsi isn’t leaving the success of Pepsi Next in the hands of a five word tagline. While that tagline might help motivate people to give Pepsi Next a try, there is more work to be done to adjust consumer perceptions of mid-calorie soft drink products.
Research and analysis by Pepsi led the marketing team to take a different approach with the messages that describe the features and benefits of Pepsi Next. It won’t be hyped as a low calorie soft drink alternative. The target audience for Pepsi Next isn’t dieters who want to shed dozens of pounds. Instead, Pepsi Next is targeting consumers who want to cut back on the amount of sugar they eat and drink. Check out the commercial below.
To support the launch of Pepsi Next, the company will offer taste tests at many retail stores, including Walmart locations around the country, and a virtual taste test campaign will debut on Facebook. Television, digital marketing, and direct mail will also help boost awareness of the product. Furthermore, Ad Age reports that Pepsi will leverage retailers’ loyalty card programs in order to target consumers who have been cutting back on soft drink purchases (or eliminating them entirely) with special Pepsi Next offers.
Pepsi Next is not Pepsi’s first foray into the mid-calorie soft drink market — a market that has performed poorly in the past for Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and many other brands. Do you think Pepsi Next will be the product that finally pushes this market forward? The marketing behind the effort, including the tagline, taste tests, and less sugar-focused message, seem like steps in the right direction. Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Tesco Scores Big with Delivery Dash Facebook Game
March 10, 2012
Not only is Tesco the world’s third largest retailer, but it’s also becoming a brand to watch in the social media marketing world. Tesco launched a Facebook Page in April 2011. Today, that Page has over 600,000 fans and ranks as the most popular supermarket Facebook Page in the world.
Tesco’s approach to leveraging Facebook has always been about building brand engagement by developing an active community on its Page. It’s new Delivery Dash Facebook game (created with Yomego and launched on the Tesco Facebook Page in early March), is targeted to female shoppers and challenges players to pack shopping baskets for their friends. It’s a race against the clock with multiple levels and increasing difficulty. The company reports that the average player is spending 30-minutes per session playing the game.
Tesco’s Facebook Page is more than just the Delivery Dash game. It’s filled with interesting and useful content. A Speed Shopping game asks consumers, “How much can you click in 60 seconds?” and The New Price Drop section of the page not only shows current items with new lower prices but also invites people to vote on the products they want to see in The New Price Drop in the future. All three of these elements of the Tesco Facebook Page are examples of excellent, relevant, and engaging content that the target audience is responding to positively.
Of course, the Page also includes some of the elements you’d expect, and those elements are updated frequently with meaningful content. For example, text updates and conversations as well as photos and videos published by Tesco and tagged by other Facebook members are always fresh and relevant. Even the Real Food Recipes section of the Tesco Facebook Page is useful to the target audience. And of course, comprehensive Questions and Notes sections are available as is a section where visitors can find help.
For customers who want to shop at Tesco in real-time, a Tesco Direct section of the site is available for exactly that. Tesco also rewards people who like the brand’s Facebook Page with exclusive offers. Clearly, Tesco is a company that wants to build a loyal and active community on its Facebook Page, so the inclusion of comprehensive Community Rules in the Info section of the Page sets expectations and protects the relevancy and integrity of the Page, the audience, and the brand.
Overall, Tesco’s Facebook Page is one to benchmark. From conversations, photos, and videos, to games, online buying, and exclusive deals and information, the Page succeeds in attracting consumers and keeping them actively involved. Those types of relationships lead to organic brand building as well as increased sales, brand loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing. That’s the way you use social media tools to build a business!
Celebrity Brand Endorsers Can Still Give Brands a Positive Sales Lift
February 24, 2012
Research has shown again and again that celebrity brand endorsers don’t typically drive brand sales, but there are always exceptions to every rule. In a recent study, Women at NBCUniversal determined that several celebrity endorsers are making a positive impact on a number of brands. What will surprise you even more is who those celebrities are and which brands they’re pitching.
Women at NBCU used its Brand Power Index (BPI) to track 500 brands between August to December 2011 that are most talked about by women. The results of the study are based on a compilation of online search data, social media buzz, and person-to-person interviews. The celebrity endorsers and the brands they pitched that had the biggest impact on female consumers and got the most buzz from women were:
- Maria Aragon for Gap: Gap jumped up 49 spots on the Brand Power Index with the help of the 11 year-old YouTube star singing “I Want Candy” in the company’s holiday commercial.
- Selena Gomez, David Hasselhoff, and Cookie Monster for Kinect for Xbox 360: With this ensemble cast of diverse celebrity endorsers pitching a variety of Kinect products, the brand climbed 119 places on the Brand Power Index.
- Sofia Vergara for Diet Pepsi, Kmart, and Cover Girl: Sofia Vergara endorsed three brands during the holiday season and all three of them moved significantly up on the Brand Power Index — Diet Pepsi jumped 49 places; Kmart increased 29 places; and Cover Girl experienced a 37 spot increase.
- Ty Burrell for Minute Maid: In a continuation of Minute Maid’s “Beta male persona” commercials that began in 2010, Ty Burrell helped the brand jump 121 places on the Brand Power Index.
- Jon Bon Jovi for Advil: Sharing his personal story of chronic pain and how Advil helped him relieve some of that pain, the rock star helped the Advil brand rise in the Brand Power Index.
While these brand experienced a positive lift in buzz among the important female consumer audience in late 2011, the question is whether expensive celebrity endorsements drive the required ROI and whether that lift can be sustained. Every brand wants to raise awareness, increase positive sentiment, and drive buzz, but if that buzz doesn’t translate into sales at some point, then additional investments will need to be made to turn buzz into sales.
The lesson to learn from the Women at NBCU study is simple. Celebrity endorsers can have a positive effect on brand buzz and sales. However, this is an area where you need to tread carefully. Celebrity endorsers aren’t cheap and their reputations can change in a split second. Just ask Pepsi who learned that lesson when it ended its relationship with Madonna. That’s not the first or last time a celebrity endorser and brand had to part ways at the brand’s expense, and that’s not a road you want your brand to have to travel.
Social Media Marketing Gives Brands Measurable Long-Term Benefits
January 6, 2012
In a study by BzzAgent, the long-term effects of social media marketing were put into metrics that the numbers-hungry executives are sure to notice. At least, we hope they notice — and listen.
According to the study, social media marketing campaigns generate an immediate boost in the likelihood that consumer packaged goods brand advocates would recommend a brand to other people. Purchase intent also gets an immediate bump among brand advocates after exposure to a social media campaign.
However, those are results that brand managers have been showing to executives for some time now. The significant findings in this study come from the long-term effects that social media campaigns have on brand advocates.
First, let’s take a look at the data from the study related to the likelihood that U.S. brand advocates would recommend a consumer packaged goods brand before and after exposure to a social media campaign. Data was obtained between summer 2010 and summer 2011:
- Pre-campaign = 39% likely to recommend the brand
- Immediately post-campaign = 61% likely to recommend the brand
- 3 months post-campaign = 57% likely to recommend the brand
- 6 months post-campaign = 57% likely to recommend the brand
- 9 months post-campaign = 56% likely to recommend the brand
- 1 year post-campaign = 55% likely to recommend the brand
Next, you can see how the purchase intent of U.S. consumer packaged goods brand advocates was affected before and after exposure to a social media campaign during the same time period — summer 2010 to summer 2011:
- Pre-campaign = 38% said they would purchase
- Immediately post-campaign = 69% said they would purchase
- 3 months post-campaign = 69% said they would purchase
- 6 months post-campaign = 64% said they would purchase
- 9 months post-campaign = 63% said they would purchase
- 1 year post-campaign = 61% said they would purchase
As eMarketer points out, this data shouldn’t be used as a barometer for how all social media campaigns will perform. However, next time you’re trying to convince your leadership team to devote a portion of the marketing budget to social media marketing, this data can help you demonstrate the positive effects that social media campaigns can have.
The important thing to remember is just as not every television ad or print ad will deliver optimum results, neither will every social media campaign. However, if you’re not experimenting and trying to learn the best ways to connect with your audience, particularly brand advocates, and motivate them to recommend your brand and purchase it via social media marketing, you’re missing an opportunity that your competitors are happy to take from you. Is that an opportunity your executives are willing to miss by leaving social media out of the marketing budget?
Image: Brian Wilkins
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