Wal-Mart’s ambition for its private label brands is expanding. Traditionally targeting low and fixed-income customers, Wal-Mart stores are also witnessing a growing number of mid-income Americans enjoying their unique offer of value. So although their core value proposition of value and convenience has not changed, they have recognized the need to strategically tear the private label offer apart from top to bottom, treating private label as a cornerstone of their value offer and a center stage for growth.
Therefore, they’re looking for much more than a simple packaging redesign and are implementing a bold private label strategy that drives traffic, increases loyalty and grows revenues across multiple categories and SKUs – providing Wal-Mart a sustainable and un-copyable competitive advantage.
A central part of this strategy seems be a new brand architecture that identifies the winners to back (like Great Value), and retires less effective brands, and that correctly matches brand to product offerings and customer segments. Once the architecture is being put in place, its component brands (like Great Value) will all need to deliver an evolved “brand language”: a new look and feel, information architecture, and brand experience for customers. This language will need to address different segments, different needs, different products and different prices. Simultaneously, enabling Wal-Mart to reduce the SKU count and review adjacency strategies and zone planning.
Clearly Wal-Mart has a strong value proposition from a business and brand standpoint: value and convenience. Now they’re translating this into a compelling new own brand portfolio – to help create a difference in-store, a deeper emotional connection with customers, greater differentiation from their competitors, and a new growth trajectory for Wal-Mart.
PUNCH & KISS 