The prototype Wegmans supermarket format now being tested in a Syracuse, N.Y., suburb is enough to send chills down the spine of any national brand marketer. The concept is quickly becoming known as "meal solutions." The shopping experience is organized around the notion that consumers shop not for groceries but for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This approach should not sound unfamiliar to brand marketers who have emphasized benefits, rather than products per se, in their advertising. Except this time, at Wegmans, it's a supermarket retailer that is applying basic laws of marketing, and largely without the direct involvement of its suppliers, the manufacturers.
What shoppers find at Wegmans, most of all, is a tantalizing assortment of prepared foods -- precooked, uncooked and cooked to order. It's enough to make Boston Market choke on its mashed potatoes.
That's not all. The produce department alone is 16,000 square feet and includes every manner of exotic fruit and vegetable, complete with background information and cooking guidelines.
The issue for national brand marketers is that their products are in danger of becoming the fifth wheel in this new retail bandwagon. The draw for Wegmans obviously is not national brands -- it's the store, stupid. The store is now the brand. If you thought private labels were a threat, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
What can save national brands from oblivion is a fresh commitment to working with progressive retailers like Wegmans to market stores and brands in harmony -- co-marketing. Although Wegmans may be leading a trend toward marketing independence among the retail trade, the fact remains that virtually every retailer stands to benefit from the marketing expertise within the packaged goods community. Not only do manufacturers have a role to play in the development of co-marketing television, radio and direct mail, the opportunities for tie-ins and cross-promotions could scarcely be more inviting. Clearly, there is not a single national brand that would not benefit in image and equity through association with a first-class, consumer-driven operation like this Wegmans store. But the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
