Self Examination
In minding your private brands, now is a good time for an accounting.
The new calendar year is closing in fast. Rather than wait until the absolute last minute, now might be the opportune time to think about melding in the goals and objectives for Private Brands with the rest of the corporate goals. The goals set for the “National Brands” have already been done by the respective manufacturers and marketers. In fact, they already have set goals for what they want (need) YOU to sell of their brands. And they already have their 2010 plans organized and in the process of implementation. All this means that unless we have already done the same, we are already behind the game.
Instead of recounting the steps to take for budgeting for Private Brands, the questions listed below are designed as somewhat of a personal inventory of just how well we’re treating our own brands. Simply answer “Yes” or “No” to each one.
• Is my Private Brand strategy supportive of and consistent with the brand on my store front?
___Yes ___No
• Am I consciously developing products that are unique to the marketplace?
__Yes ___No
• Do I carry over 3,000 Private Brand skus?
___Yes ___No
• Am I constantly looking for ways to improve my Private Brands?
___Yes ___No
• Are my Private Brand label/package designs superior to that of the other brands?
___Yes ___No
• Do I price my Private Brand products less than the National Brand equivalent retails, but not too low?
___Yes ___No
• Do my Private Brands get their fair share of shelf space or more?
___Yes ___No
• Do my Private Brands get their fair share of ad space or better?
___Yes ___No
• Am I just copying the other brands?
___Yes ___No
• When negotiating my product costs, do I negotiate with the combination of quality and price?
___Yes ___No
• Do I have a credible and consistent way to monitor whether I’m getting the quality I negotiated for?
___Yes ___No
• Is every one of my employees as enthused about our Private Brands as I am?
___Yes ___No
The next three questions are more of an introspection of your philosophy for your Private Brands and require more than a top-of-mind response. The answers to these questions will reveal how serious you are with your Private Brands and how well you will do over the next few years as you have to fight a little harder to keep the momentum going or even to maintain the current status as the economy improves. Take some time to answer them. Ask the same questions of your key management staff . . . see what their answers are.
1. Why should someone buy my Private Brands? (List 3 good reasons.)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Who is the person inside my organization that is held responsible for the performance of my Private Brands, what are their specific responsibilities and to whom do they report?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What are my specific Private Brand goals for 2010? Sales? Margins? Category share? Overall share?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Review the answers with your key management staff and see how close you and your team come to agreement. The answers will be very telling about how seriously you are minding your Private Brands. n
*Steve Rubow has over 40 years experience in retailing and private branding and was President/CEO of Topco Associates for 8 of those years. He is currently associated with Leo J. Shapiro Associates, a Chicago-based market research firm and is on the faculty at The University of Chicago. Steve can be reached at steve.rubow@ljs.com.
