Pleasanton, California-based grocer Safeway is inviting its customers to “pop open great taste at a great price,” with the launch or relaunch of its line of Private Brand carbonated soft drinks under the “refreshe” name. The sodas will continue to carry the Safeway brand while extending the existing bottled water brand “refreshe” with new designs by San Francisco based branding agency Anthem Worldwide. Safeway will offer more than fifteen different flavors including a wide selection of colas, fruit flavors and diet drinks.
The new brand is on currently on sale for $1.88 per 12-pack of 12-ounce cans, or 2 for $1 per 2-liter bottle, with loyalty card. Refreshe water is currently on sale for $2.99 per 24-pack of 16.9-ounce bottles.
This is an interesting move that seems to point to Safeway evolving not simply soft drinks but its Private Brand portfolio. Is it possible that a simple brand extension could be a signal of a strategic shift to come?
The old Safeway carbonated beverage designs
To learn more about Safeway’s Private Brand strategy join myself and Nancy Cota, Vice President Innovation, Consumer Brands, SAFEWAY at the 2010 Private Brand Movement Conference in Chicago. The conference will be held September 27-29, 2010 at boutique riverfront hotel the Hotel Sax.
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I’ve never understood why own brand/private label buyers and category managers insist on generic design across ranges like these. Cocal Cola and Pepsi treat orange fizzy drinks differently to normal cola drinks which are again different to the diet versions.
This looks like a cheap, pale imitation of leading brands. The packs are complicated and a step backwards form the old version which at least shouted out about the lack of artificial flavours. As long as own brand continues to create packaging design that makes it’s products feel like pale imitations of brands, then they will be regarded as such.
Some companies get it right. Trader Joes has carved out it’s own niche and seems to be much loved for doing things it’s own way, Fresh & Easy, Target and Walmart are all waking up to the fact that they have to create and develop their own brands rather than just labeling products. Of course the likes of Waitrose (currently the fastest growing supermarket in the UK) is light years ahead with it’s packaging design, The Co-Operative have a clear ethos for their brand which they tell you about on every pack, Sainbury’s have created their own brands within store and consider not just the packaging but the POS and fixture as a while when developing packaging. which works really well.
Own brand packaging SHOULD be more than just a design telling you what is inside the pack with the brands logo on it. It needs to think more holistically, it needs to be part of a big idea.
Thanks Lee,
Although I can’t say I wholly agree with your thoughts, I always appreciate hearing them. The current trend in Private brand design in the US is to make a unified look across multiple flavors and it either succeeds at shelf with a significant impact and sales lift or it fails. Trader Joe’s is the exception to this type of strategy, their designs have evolved over the years and are certainly improving but I don’t think I will hold them up as shinging exampls of great design. In general their strategy has been to mimic the national brand with a Trader joe inspired name, Trader Jose.
I agree that Waitrose has some great work in store today, however to make a broad generalization European design is running the danger of falling into a monotony of elegant sameness, understated san serif fonts and overly simplistic photos can quickly becom cookie cutter and not cutting edge.
American Private Brand design is rapidly evolving and over the last year there have been some beautiful desings hit the shelves, but at their essence they have to be American ad speak to the American consumer. Call us big, tacky and gauche but the American sensibility is distinctly different and neither better nor worse.
Thanks
C