Private Label Strategy

ONE

Brands Under Attack from Private Labels

Worldwide annual private label sales: One trillion dollars

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY was the century of manufacturer brands. Consumers moved from no-name products of inconsistent quality produced by local factories in the nineteenth century to branded products from global manufacturers led by Coca-Cola, Disney, Johnnie Walker Scotch whiskey, Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, Kraft’s Jell-O, Levi’s jeans, Procter & Gamble’s Ivory soap, Nestlé’s infant formula, and Unilever’s Sunlight soap. These manufacturer brands used emerging media—first newspapers, billboards, and radio; later television and the Internet—to market their message effectively. The branded message to consumers was one of smart shopping—brands ...