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FIRST RUN

If you want someone to try your product, give it away.That was the thinking behind the Publix Brand Challenge, a regional promotion where shoppers who bought certain national brands received the private-label equivalent for free. The goal was to let consumers compare Publix store brands side by side with national brands, said Maria Brous, spokeswoman for Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets."We're

If you want someone to try your product, give it away.

That was the thinking behind the Publix Brand Challenge, a regional promotion where shoppers who bought certain national brands received the private-label equivalent for free. The goal was to let consumers compare Publix store brands side by side with national brands, said Maria Brous, spokeswoman for Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets.

"We're saying, 'Here, you be the judge,'" Brous told SN.

The Publix promotion is among a number of ways retailers are getting more aggressive about promoting their private labels. For example:

H.E. Butt Grocery, San Antonio, is asking shoppers to vote for the next flavor of its H-E-B Creamy Creations premium ice cream. Voters are entered to win a free refrigerator and a year's supply of ice cream.

Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif., is running Guzzle n' Go, a month-long promotion for its Go2 Cola that will award a winner free gas for 30 years or free Go2 Cola for 20 years, among other gifts.

Retailers also are using in-store merchandising to better highlight their house brands. Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y., for instance, just launched a Look What's New in Our Brand display at the front of the store to highlight new products.

"We decided that customers shouldn't have to hunt and search to find our brands," said Regina Tator, director of corporate brands.

The heightened competitive activity comes at a time when branded and private-label products are fighting for fractions of share points. Store-brand unit sales increased slightly between 2004 and 2005 by two-tenths of a percentage point to hold a 20.8% share of the market, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association.

Publix has made a great effort to strengthen its private label, in large part through a packaging revamp that is giving products sleeker graphics lines, brighter colors and putting more emphasis on the Publix brand.

The retailer developed the Brand Challenge to showcase the new packaging, as well as emphasize that its own brands meet or exceed the national-brand standards, typically at a 10% to 30% lower cost, Brous said. Each comes with a money-back guarantee.

The 10-week test program, which ended Aug. 24, ran in about 100 stores in select markets, including Tampa, Fla.; Tennessee; and Birmingham, Ala. Private-label cookies, salsa, soda, cereal, canned vegetables and other products were displayed next to their national-brand counterparts.

Rather than use traditional in-store sampling, Publix gave away full-size product to let people try its brands at home.

"They can prepare it the way they want it and integrate it into their own lifestyles and recipes," Brous said.

This type of heightened promotional activity doesn't surprise Denis Ring, partner at Bode USA, Lafayette, Calif., a consulting and product-development firm that has worked on Whole Foods Market's 365 and Safeway's O Organics private-label lines, among others. After all, stores have significantly improved the quality of their brands, and they want consumers to know, he said.

"Today's private-label development and testing is held to the highest standards," Ring said.

Retailers realize that simply making a store-brand version of a product available isn't enough, and more have beefed up promotional activity, he said.

Take H-E-B. Its Creamy Creations brands is its top-selling half-gallon ice cream, with over 14 million gallons sold since the brand launched in 1996, according to the retailer's website.

Designed to maintain that No. 1 position, the H-E-B contest lets consumers vote in-store or online for one of four new flavors: coconut almond chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies & cream, banana almond chocolate chunk or homemade vanilla.

Ring said the promotion is a novel way to build loyalty because it encourages people to interact with the brand.

Ladka Sweeney, president of Leeson Food Group, Toronto, a consulting company specializing in private label, agreed that retailers' attitudes towards store brands have changed. Private labels once were often me-too products, but now retailers are now developing original products and packaging sizes, she said.

"There's a lot more innovation now, from fabulous hors d'oeuvres to prepared meals," Sweeney said.

One such product is Price Chopper's new Neil's Favorite Steak & Meat Marinade, an extension of the Central Market Classics' line. Named after company President Neil Golub, the product marks the first time Golub's name is on a product label.

"We're proud of everything we put our name on and are constantly looking at new avenues to put it out there," Tator said.

To help in that effort, Tator conducts weekly meetings with Price Chopper's private-label category managers to plan sales events, long-term promotions and displays.

Price Chopper is also getting more involved in targeted private-label marketing. The chain has used its Baby Club magazine to tout improvements to its private-label diapers and distribute coupons for store brands in addition to national ones.

The newest aspect of Price Chopper's private-label initiative is its Look What's New In Our Brand display, which contains recently introduced store brands. In-store sampling supports the products featured on the displays.

A recent offer included new all-natural Price Chopper cookies, which typically retail for $2.99, but were on promotion at two for $5.

Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is testing a promotion designed to support its expanding stable of store brand lines. Bonus fuelperks! is a loyalty effort where customers who buy store brands earn discounts at Giant Eagle's GetGo fuel stations.

Customers who spend $50 earn 10 cents in the fuelperks! program. But those in Youngstown, Ohio, and Erie, Pa., who purchase corporate brands earn additional discounts. "Whenever possible, we attempt to advertise and promote our corporate brands as often as we do national brands," spokesman Dan Donovan said.