People buy brands not products. The role of the private label manufacturer is no longer to simply provide products. Its role is
to assist in the building of brands.
A step forward
The 1990s saw a huge push towards globalization and the rise of the big brands. Nike, Coca Cola and McDonalds were idolized as examples of marketing perfection. Consumers absorbed all the messages and the future seemed to be completely in the hands of the corporate giants. Fast forward to the social media generation and consumers have changed.
Millennials are now sceptical of the big corporations and instead seek a less corporate alternative. Private label manufacturing has lowered the barriers to entry and given a new lease of life to smaller, more niche brands, designed to target specific segments of the market with creative and engaging messages.
Marketing myopia
Marketing myopia, a term coined by Theodore Levitt, is a potential pitfall we should keep in mind. A business suffers from marketing myopia when a company views marketing strictly from the standpoint of selling a specific product rather than from the standpoint of fulfilling customer needs.
Pet food manufacturers should be mindful and ensure they do not suffer from marketing myopia. Indeed pet food manufacturers should strategically position themselves as service providers of solutions and not simply pet food manufacturers.
Service in mind
What services should be offered? Should private label manufacturers charge for these services and how can value be truly articulated? These are all questions that continue to challenge manufacturers who are investing in the service provision. Services could be broken down into different business units. These include Marketing, Design, Projects, Nutrition, Sales, Account Management, Warehousing, Logistics, Research & Development and Quality Assurance.
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