Manufacturer and retailer brands: Is strategic coexistence the norm?

• We interview a near census of retailer and manufacturer managers in several food categories.
• Retailer and manufacturer brands have specific and understood roles within each category.
• Manufacturer brands drive category growth and development for the retailer.
• Retailer brands follow this development and drive retailer category profits.
• There is a known optimal share for retailer brands, which varies for each category.

This article reports the results of research that investigated long-term strategic relationships between manufacturer and retailer brands, in the FMCG/supermarket industry, within New Zealand. The research utilised a multiple-case study methodology involving near-census samples of supplier and retailer managers drawn from several product categories. Data was collected via in-depth interviews and in-store category observation. The research found a clear perception among managers that manufacturer brands have a greater collective capacity for product innovation and marketing support than retailer brands. Retail managers believed that category dominance by retailer brands was not desirable, as retailer brands would then not be able to replicate the product innovation and related marketing activities of manufacturer brands, which would be detrimental to long-term growth and profitability of the categories studied. As excessively high retailer brand share in categories compromised overall product innovation and category support, respondents believed that varying optimum levels of retailer brand penetration existed for each category, and that these levels should be actively maintained over the long term. There was no evidence of retailer manager ambitions to either exceed these optimum points or to eliminate manufacturer brands.

Chinese abstract本文阐述了有关发达经济体中制造商和零售商自有品牌在快速消费品或超市行业的长期战略关系的研究成果。本研究利用多案例研究方法，从多个产品类别的供应商和零售商的经理处得到近似普查的样本，并通过深访和店内品类观察收集数据。研究表明，经理们明确表示同零售商品牌相比，制造商品牌在产品创新和营销支持上有更大的集中能力。零售商经理认为，零售商品牌的类别优势不显著，原因是零售商品牌无法复制制造商品牌的产品创新和相关营销活动，这不利于该类产品的长期增长和盈利能力。零售商品牌份额过高损害了整体产品的创新和品类支持，因此，受访者认为，每个类别都存在不尽相同的最佳零售商品牌渗透水平，这些水平应该得到长期积极维护。目前，尚无证据表明零售商经理志在超过这些最佳水平或取消制造商品牌。