Lauren R. Hartman

January 29, 2014

2 Min Read
It's private brands' time to shine, says FMI speaker
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Andres Siefkin’s presentation at the conclusion of the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) first annual Private Brand Summit,  June 14 to June 16 at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, aimed to energize attendees as they headed back to their businesses and began rethinking their private brand strategies. From the buzz in the room at the close of his talk, the executive at Stamford, CN-based private brand broker Daymon Worldwide achieved his aim--and then some.

Through his “Our Time is Now!” presentation, Siefkin, Daymon’s vp of marketing and consumer insights, was eager to instill a “sense of urgency” in listeners as he insisted that just as private labels had evolved into private brands, so executives’ mindsets regarding private brands must evolve.

The three main points Siefkin stresses are that the boss of private brands is now the shopper, so it was critical for companies to understand the consumer; private brands aren’t just a trend, but are here to stay; and it was up to attendees to make private brands the brand of choice for consumers, by getting the products on the shelf and enabling the shopper to decide.

Major consumer trends Siefkin notes are stocking up through the purchase of items such as multipacks; “trading down” from national brands to private brands; cocooning behaviors, including dining more at home and watching more TV, and the desire to live better for less, by buying alternative products that can save them money. He additionally cites mega-trends such as a more sophisticated consumer, comfort and enjoyment, a focus on a healthy body and planet, and the aging consumer, the last of which now represents over 30 percent of purchasing power worldwide.

One point Siefkin raised was the changing concept of value, which has gone beyond mere price of an item to encompass quality and relevance to consumer lifestyles and needs. He notes that the media has played a substantive role in evolving the consumer’s perception of value in regard to private brands, with the result that now 62 percent of consumers consider private brands to be as good as private brands.

Source: Progressive Grocer, 6/17

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