Manufacturer and Retailer Brands: Is Strategic Coexistence the Norm?

Abstract

This article reports the results of research that investigated long-term strategic relationships between manufacturer and retailer brands, in the FMCG/supermarket industry, within New Zealand. The research utilised a multiple-case study methodology involving near-census samples of supplier and retailer managers drawn from several product categories. Data was collected via in-depth interviews and instore category observation. The research found a clear perception among managers that manufacturer brands have a greater collective capacity for product innovation and marketing support than retailer brands. Retail managers believed that category dominance by retailer brands was not desirable, as retailer brands would then not be able to replicate the product innovation and related marketing activities of manufacturer brands, which would be detrimental to long-term growth and profitability of the categories studied. As excessively high retailer brand share in categories compromised overall product innovation and category support, respondents believed that varying optimum levels of retailer brand penetration existed for each category, and that these levels should be actively maintained over the long term. There was no evidence of retailer manager ambitions to either exceed these optimum points or to eliminate manufacturer brands.

Does Gender Diversity Affect Performance in Agri-Food Cooperatives? A Moderated Model

“…The opening of markets logically tends to be aligned with improved sales performance. In addition, there is an enormous concentration of the demand for food which, in most developed markets, means that these activities are concentrated in the hands of just a few global distribution firms (between three and five in a large number of countries) [137]. Therefore, it is logical for agri-coops to have intensified their internationalisation strategy in order to become more competitive and appealing to these large distribution firms, and to do business with them, since not doing so would mean being left out of an important segment of the market.…”

Dirichlet implications for portfolio management

“…The first is pursuit of long-term brand growth by responding to demand not currently addressed by the portfolio of offerings, to attract new consumers or address new purchase occasions (Koschmann & Sheth, 2018). The second is responding to short-term requirements; these may be the result of demand for temporary products to provide variety or novelty, to support promotional off-shelf locations, to provide seasonal variants, or simply demands arising from retailer or channel power (Dobson & Waterson, 1999;Tanusondjaja, Nenycz-Thiel, Dawes, & Kennedy, 2018;Chimhundu, McNeill, & Hamlin, 2015). The short term or limited time offerings can result in brand growth, but the primary consideration may simply be managing the retailer and channel to support distribution strategy and thus access to consumers.…”

The impact of copycat packaging strategies on the adoption of private labels

“…Additionally, PLs are overwhelmingly playing catch-up games with NBs, trying to copy many of the innovations introduced in the market (Steenkamp et al, 2010). Indeed, because manufacturing brands tend to show a stronger innovation capacity than retailer brands (Chimhundu et al, 2015) and use innovation as a strong weapon to fight PLs' continuing growth in power and market share (Gielens, 2012), retailers have started to strongly invest in PLs (Steenkamp and Geyskens, 2014) to enhance store loyalty and their profits (Ailawadi et al, 2008). Moreover, store brands are present in many categories with a packaging strategy that shows strong resemblance to that of the NBs in that category (Collins-Dodd and Zaichkowsky, 1999;Kapferer, 1995).…”

“…In fact, manufacturing brands regularly and explicitly write on their packages that the products are "unique" or that "our secret formula is not shared with anyone else" (e.g. Danone in their yoghurts and Nestlé in their breakfast cereals), stressing the idea that manufacturing brands invest more heavily on innovation than retailer brands (Chimhundu et al, 2015). The possibility of store products copying the external characteristics (on packaging features) of NB products calls for a strong focus on innovation, emphasizing that the internal characteristics (e.g.…”