Helping Gareth trade back to branded crumpets

Waitrose is hailing the success of its Essentials lines even though it is only half way through its roll-out.  Some rebadged own-label products leapt up in sales, purely down to being part of the Essentials family with its clean-cut, up-market design appeal.  It's all part of a strategy to make Waitrose a first-choice destination rather than a top-up destination.

So, a retailer has yet another opportunity to improve its bargaining position in relation to its fragmented bunch of brandowning suppliers.  Presumably, Waitrose has done great financial deals to soak up excess capacity with producers around the country, agreed advantageous payment terms and generally taken a firm grip of the situation.

They have greater margin control on this range than they have with any purchased brand, but that is not the same as saying they make the same profit per item that they might achieve from a full priced version from a brandowner.  Contrary to popular belief, the retailer still needs "proper" brandowners to lead a category and set the benchmark for tertiary and own-label brands to compete with.

Don't throw in the towel. Use this as inspiration to make your brand unique and desired.  The old marketing rules still tell us how to react.  Essentials sells value at its particular pricepoint.  We have to sell value at a higher price point.  Simple really.

Gareth sits opposite me - Essentials pack on his desk.  How will you make him switch back to branded crumpets?

Tags: own-label, Waitrose