Package Design - March 2013 - 20

From Across

the Pond
By Ian Schoﬁeld

What Europe’s success with private
label can teach American brands.

P

rivate label is on the rise. Whether it’s being
driven by the recent recession or more fiscally
responsible American consumers, U.S. retailers are
establishing themselves as consumer packaged
goods companies, across an ever-increasingly wide
spectrum of product lines. Figuring out what works
and what doesn’t, and why a package jumps off, or
remains on, the shelf can be easier if brands look to
the widespread success that European private
labels have enjoyed for decades. Six countries, in
particular, have retailer brands accounting for 40%
or more of products sold. According to data from
Private Label Manufacturers Association [PLMA],

Private labels have already proven
that the quality of their goods is
held to the same standards as
those reached by national brands.
20

MARCH 2013

Switzerland has 53%; Spain, 49%; the U.K.; 47%;
Portugal, 43%; Germany, 41%; and Belgium, 40%.
One of the reasons that Europe has experienced
so much success within the private label sector is
that companies competing in this market understand that packaging is the differentiator. According to the PLMA consumer research report
conducted by GfK, product labels and packaging
aid consumers in making purchasing decisions.
Nearly 65% of respondents said that labels and
packaging help make an informed purchasing decision. Imagine what the numbers could look like if
more emphasis was put on the look of packaging.

Winning over existing fans
Private labels have already proven that the quality
of their goods is held to the same standards as
those reached by national brands; it is time for
their packaging to advance to that same level. In
order to do so, a private label must take its store
brand and positioning as if it were a national consumer packaged goods brand.
Package Design - March 2013

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