ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to look at the way branding is influenced by retailers. It opens by reviewing the changing nature of own labels, and examines the resources retailers are using to back their quality positioning. It discusses the launch of generics and clarifies why this secondary own label tier originally failed. The shift in the balance of power from manufacturers to retailers is documented and the response of weak and strong brand manufacturers is compared. Brand manufacturer strategies appropriate for convenience and non-convenience retailer types are reviewed. The issues manufacturers should consider before working on own labels are reviewed along with the criteria retailers use to assess potential own label suppliers. The brand strength-retailer attractiveness matrix is presented as a device to prioritize the effort behind different brands being sold through specific major accounts. Some of the strategies manufacturers can implement to develop and defend strong brands, despite the increasing power of retailers, are reviewed. Finally, principles from category management and ECR are considered which impact brands.
