New Age of Private Label

Procter & Gamble's quest to debunk competitors that too closely mimic its brand packaging is a testament to the sophistication of the new age of private label product. The company has sued three private label manufacturers (see Page 10 for more details) in the past few months. "We had to take this action to protect our business and the interests of our consumers," states Diane Dietz, general manager North America oral care at P&G. "Conduct from private label manufacturers that can mislead consumers cannot be tolerated."

Litigation appears to be a primary tool to fend off private label competition. Forward-thinking companies, especially in the pharma space, are taking it a step further by securing patents for packaging that can be easily knocked off by a store brand. One executive from a leading pharma company told me that by securing patents around packaging, private label issues are settled much more quickly while sending a strong message to the offending company that is oftentimes a retail customer.

Speaking of securing brand dominance and retail customers be sure to drink in our cover story this month with Coca-Cola Enterprises (Page 14). The company recently opened a refreshing operating framework, designed to streamline internal silos in an effort to deliver superior customer service through a world class supply chain. Also on tap: a best practices section on price optimization (Page 18) that covers the ins and outs of one of the most challenging business areas in the industry. How is your firm dealing with prickly issues like private label and price optimization?
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