Retail: Issues & Applications

Retail Brands

Learning objectives

At the end of this session students will be able to:

• Clearly differentiate between product brands and retail brands

• Comment on evidence that indicates the growth of retail own brands

• Identify strategic forces driving the development of retail own brands

• Recognise different approaches to own brands across the retail sector

• List a range of relevant sources

2

How far will a retailer go

to promote their brand?

3

4

5

The growth of the retail brand in fashion retailing

UK fashion retailing is characterised by high levels of market concentration, centralisation and outlet standardisation. In the pursuit of market share, the multiple fashion retailers are implementing branding strategies that aim to differentiate their product offer and reinforce their market positioning.

(Birtwistle and Freathy IJR&DM Vol 26, No 8 1998)

6

Different types of own brand(McGoldrick, 2002)

Retailer name brand Tesco, H&M, Monsoon, Mothercare

Store sub-brand usually targeted at a specific market segment.

Sainsbury Taste the DifferenceTesco FinestJohn Lewis JFW

Generic brand usually targeted at price conscious segment

Tesco Value

Exclusive brand Tu (Sainsbury’s)George (ASDA)

Exclusive designer brand in some situations a manufacturer brand is provided exclusively by a retailer

Debenhams and Jasper Conran, Sainsbury and Conran cookware.

7

Penetration of own brand in grocery retailing

Product category Percentage shareDry grocery 36.1

Dairy 65.4

Delicatessen 85.4

Frozen foods 48.6

Bakery 64.4

Confectionery 15.5

Petfood and pet care 19.6

8

Drivers of retail own brand growth (a)

• Product category sales are large and growing

• Category is dominated by a few large manufacturers so retailers promote their own brands to reduce dependency

• New manufacturer brand innovations and developments are infrequent and easy to copy

9

Drivers of retail own brand growth (b)

• Retail distribution is well organized

• Contribution of own brand to profits

• Success of other retailers

• Retailer has size and resources to develop own brand

10

Drivers of retail own brand growth (c)

• Retail recognises the contribution of own brand to differentiation strategy

• Tendency of retailers to differentiate themselves by emphasising their range of producer brands is becoming rarer

• Internationalisation/Globalisation

11

Lifestyle retail brands

• For consumers of lifestyle retail brands, the consumption experience is an interactive process that creates value:

“Lifestyle themes shape consumption patterns, the goods acquired undergo the consumption processes of symbolism, embellishment, transformation and display, and so shape lifestyle”.

(Helman and de Chernatony. Development of Lifestyle Retail Brands.

The Service Industries Journal. Vol 19, No 2 April 1999)12

Lifestyle retail brands

• Lifestyle retailing involves the development

of a clear customer focus and the offer of a

“total package”, which appeals to a target

customer group defined by lifestyle.(Walters 1988)

13

Lifestyle retail brands(Walters,1998)

• As forms of popular culture, lifestyle retail brands are able to communicate more effectively with consumers through their performance in the roles of change agent, gatekeeper, opinion leader and innovator.

• In providing a “total look”, that is made available in an environment that provides a “total experience”, which is relevant to the target customer group, the lifestyle retail brand effectively closes any gap that may exist between the consumer and the retailer.

14

The retailer as a brand

• Brands are much more than products, they are identifiable clusters of functional and emotional values

(de Chernatony and McDonald,1998)

• Retail brands, as distinct from manufacturer brands, can offer to simplify our lives; they can help to edit or filter the choices; they can provide increased personalisation

(Whale, European Retail Digest, March 2001)

• “We live in a world where symbolic meaning linked to brand use provides status and social significance for the consumer of that brand” (Gilbert)

15

Discussion forum topic

Read the journal article ‘Jamie Oliver at Sainsburys’ on Moodle*.

1. The current model for celebrity endorsements needs to be changed to incorpor ate elements of brand alliances. Discuss. *If you have problems with the link search

online in Emerald

2. Comment how branding is used as a communication device to signal values, positioning and products at Sainsburys

16

Seminar 2

Briefing: Comparison of evidence of brand strategies (product and store) from stores in 3 different categories:

Food Aldi/Tesco

Clothing Primark/M&S

Charity shops Oxfam/?17