Marketing Insights Newsletter

Mega-Brand Vs. Edited Brand

Source:  "Chief Marketer", article by Carol Davies

Consumers always want choice—or do they? When shopping for orange juice or toothpaste becomes as complicated as shopping for pantyhose, is offering "infinite" choice within a category really such a good idea?

Mega-brands such as Neutrogena, Crest, and Tropicana have become nearly all-encompassing, due to several factors: the high cost of launching a brand, the constant push for newness, and the never-ending battle for shelf space. While all these factors are legitimate, there is another reality at play. There comes a point when more is just too much, when choice tips over into consumer confusion.

When this happens, when reading labels becomes an exercise in frustration, the door opens for an alternative: the edited brand.

The edited brand serves as a bull’s-eye for the consumer. While Cheerios, with varieties from frosted to multigrain, targets everyone from the sweet tooth to the health nut, Kashi stays loyal to the committed health-conscious consumer.

The edited brand has a strong point of view and philosophy that guide brand decisions. While the mega-brand asks, "Can we do it?" the edited brand asks, "Should we do it?" and sometimes says "no." Unlike mega-brands Lancome and Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics provides an edited color palette and product line, using its philosophy that "beauty should be simple, real, and approachable" as its guide.

The edited brand filters out ideas. Rather than incorporating every new technology or ingredient into its line, the edited brand is selective about line extensions. In the best case, the edited brand goes further, seeking new "finds" for its consumer, much as Origins has introduced its followers to white tea, pomegranate, and Dr. Weil's Plantidote Mega Mushroom Program.

With today's consumers so bombarded by information and so pressed for time, the "more" they need may not be more choice, but more decisions ready-made for them.

Carol Davies is a partner in Fletcher Knight, a Greenwich, CT-based marketing innovation consultancy.

Blockbuster Products: More Than Mere Functionality

Source:  "Chief Marketer", article by Gary Grossman

Because of saturated markets and the dominant power of the buyer—distributors, retailers, and consumers—it is no longer enough to deliver a well-engineered, functional product or package. Every competitive company does. Manufacturers today must create greater meaningful value for the end user.

To do this they need to study the retail landscape in terms of in-store merchandising and displays, shopper perceptions, and the retail experiences. They also need to analyze competitive products in terms of product or package features, benefits, and look and feel.

Above all, manufacturers must explore with consumers not just the specific features they expressly want but also their latent, unarticulated needs. What are the issues they wrestle with every day? What are their desired outcomes? What opportunities for improving existing products or packages can they envision? Some recent examples might be illustrative.

Thermador
Thermador is the world’s third largest appliance manufacturer. For 70 years its name has been synonymous with ingenious design and innovation in luxurious kitchens. In 1954, Thermador introduced the built-in wall oven. Other breakthroughs followed to become industry standards in the high-performance kitchen category.

Nonetheless, the product line was incomplete in that it lacked refrigerators. So in 2001, Thermador decided to develop a line of next-generation refrigerators.

Thermador’s start-up research found that consumers wanted to experience a high-end refrigerator differently than less expensive appliances. They wanted a special luxury experience. The basis for the first Thermador refrigerators was to be a new design esthetic, an elegant look and feel, inside and out, and exceptional convenience. The design would connect the owner’s identity to the best-in-class product.

Launched in 2004, the line immediately won the recommendation of architects, interior designers, and homeowners, as well as an award from “House Beautiful” magazine.

Gillette
Several years ago, the Gillette Co., a world leader in personal and oral care products, wanted to gain share in the highly competitive personal care market. Its goal: to create a next-generation antiperspirant and deodorant product.

Through its diagnostic process, Gillette discovered acute consumer unhappiness with the way deodorants often left a white residue on garments. Consequently it reinvented the formula, making the deodorant clear. Because the new solution was sticky and thick, a special applicator was required to apply the gel. The new applicator proved both cost-effective and patentable, giving Gillette an easily defensible competitive advantage.

Today clear antiperspirants and deodorants dominate, and Gillette’s products are number one.

Similac Infant Formula
Ross Products introduced Similac Concentrated Liquid, the first infant formula available in a form other than powder, in 1951. Similac became the most popular product in its market. But growth was slow, and management wanted to capture market share from a leading competitor. To win at retail, the packaging, then a can, would have to be redeveloped.

The development team studied the product, the company’s capabilities, the market, and the users—young mothers and healthcare professionals. The result was a 32-oz. reclosable plastic bottle, containing a day’s feeding, that was easy to hold and pour, travelled well, and could be opened without a can opener, due to a built-in patented cutter. Finally, a rectangular shape was designed to make the brand and stand out on shelves filled with round metal cans.

The response was exceptional. Similac captured the market share it desired.

GoSnacks
To create the loudest tasting, most fun snack on earth, Frito-Lay Co. developed Doritos 3D’s Corn Snacks. The question was how to package it to compel consumers to buy repeatedly.

The focus was males 8-19 years old. What did they want? Several important undetected needs were discovered through ethnographic work. The resulting packaging was designed for the “on the go” generation: The cap doubles as a cup for sharing, and a reclosable freshness seal and container protects the integrity of the corn snacks and fits in a knapsack or a cup holder.

Response was overwhelming. Wal-Mart gave GoSnacks two power-aisle displays in every one of its more than 3,000 US stores.

Yes, we still need solid engineering and functionality. But today that’s table stakes. To become a blockbuster is to be something consumers want to buy—something that’s not just different but also better than anything else in its category, better because it meets heretofore unmet consumer needs.

Gary Grossman is president of Innovation & Development, an Edgewater, NJ-based product strategy and packaging firm.