Many own-label brands are agile, insight-driven and tap successfully into consumer needs. They address rising demand for value but also offer sharp creative execution.
Long gone are the days when they were seen only as cheap in quality as well as price. In fact, new data from IGD shows 52% of consumers believe they match brands on quality.
This signals challenging times for A-brands.
As Amelia Christie-Miller, founder of Bold Bean Co, recently said on social media, M&S launching its own premium beans in a glass jar was “damn scary”.
So, if highly successful premium challenger brands are running scared, what does this mean for the future of A-brands – and what do the most successful ones teach us about how to win in this environment?
1. Amplifying value
Named brands will not win by trying to beat private labels at their own game. Instead, they need to focus on the many areas where they have a distinct advantage – to redefine value and desirability. And they need to be focused and explicit in doing so.
It links to the question of value. A-brands’ unique value no longer lies in product quality, a generic idea of ‘premium’ or a more elevated visual look. It’s about building a perception of value through product truth, brand meaning, distinctive assets and the experience when a shopper has the product in hand.
Retailers can replicate formats, ingredients and visual cues at speed. What they cannot easily copy is a genuine brand story and design storytelling: the founder’s obsession, the product philosophy, the community built around the brand.
Private labels are inherently portfolio-driven, beholden to retail logic and constrained by their role within a retailer’s wider ecosystem. A-brands, meanwhile, have the freedom to articulate their brand stories consistently, building depth over time that private labels can’t easily conjure from one moment to the next.
Bold Bean Co is a great example. Its defence against own-label competitors isn’t its enticing glass jar, but the world it has built around its product: recipe inspiration, community, cookbooks, B Corp credentials and a clear mission to make people see beans differently. The pack is important, but it gains power from the story behind it. While M&S’s offerings may seem scary, it is this brand world approach that is more likely to support longevity and a lasting place in consumers’ minds.
2. Break category norms with bravery
It also highlights another area where A-brands have an advantage over private labels. Because they are not tied to a retailer’s portfolio architecture, they can take bigger creative risks, build a more distinctive point of view and change how shoppers understand an entire category.
Graza, for example, introduced a new take on olive oil. It challenged conventions, making a traditionally premium, static category feel accessible, expressive and fun – all brought to life through an attention-grabbing new packaging format.
It not only looked markedly different but also brought a new functionality with its squeezy bottle that changed how people physically interacted with and used the product – and quickly inspired others to follow suit.
In commoditised categories, a distinctive pack format, voice or visual system can reframe expectations and make the brand feel meaningfully different. It is where A-brands still have the opportunity to lead.
3. Use pack to amplify value
The pack has a crucial role to play here. It is often the most tangible expression of a brand’s value. It is the object a shopper sees on shelf, holds in their hand, opens at home, stores in the cupboard, and sometimes serves from directly. For food and drink brands, packaging is not a passive container; it is part of the brand experience.
That value isn’t conveyed through traditional ‘premium’ cues – black, foil or minimalist craft may signal premium in some contexts, but they do not create value on their own. Value is created when the pack makes the product feel worth choosing, worth paying more for, worth putting on the table or worth falling in love with. The best packaging makes the brand’s promise physical.
For brands that means treating pack design as a strategic value driver. It should express the brand’s story, encode its distinctive assets, make quality visible and create a moment of recognition that private label cannot simply borrow without looking like a copy.
Heinz, for example is constantly looking to innovate here. Earlier this year, it launched a fry box with a built-in condiment compartment, an innovation that truly improves the user experience. It also just released a customisable ketchup bottle lid – fun, puts a smile on your face; and unmistakably Heinz.
In a market where retailer brands are becoming more sophisticated, the brands that win will be those that make their value clear before the first bite, sip or spoonful.
About the author
Cecilia Bjare is partner and creative director at Pond Design. During her career, she has worked across both private label (Eldorado) and A-brands (Absolut, Malmo, Jameson).