Albertsons' Signature SELECT Rebrand Focused On Cohesion
In the coming months, shoppers across Albertsons’ family of stores will see the grocer’s new Signature SELECT brand and packaging design on the shelves of their local store.
As previously reported by Store Brands, the rebranding effort will transition the company away from its Signature Farms, Signature Care, and Signature Cafe brands, which is now underway and expected to be complete in early 2024, company officials said.
Signature SELECT is one of the largest brands in the Albertsons’ Own Brands portfolio featuring more than 8,000 products that includes packaged salads, ice cream, frozen pizza, coffee, paper goods, pasta, snacks, canned vegetables and fruit as well as ground beef, pork and chicken.
Store Brands spoke with Brandon Brown, senior vice president of Own Brands at Albertsons, about the rebranding effort and how the repositioning of the Signature brand is expected to provide a more cohesive message to shoppers and further drive sales of private brand products across the company.
STORE BRANDS: What were the motivating factors that led Albertsons to rebrand its Signature product line?
BRANDON BROWN: Over the years we opportunistically added brands to our portfolio based on specific consumer needs and trends. And over time we created a sizable portfolio, but actually found that the role of each brand wasn't clear to consumers. So last year we spent time defining clear brand guardrails, and found an opportunity to sharpen our positioning across all of our brands as well as refresh the brand strategy, personality and design.
We had four distinct brands with Signature Select, Signature Farm, Signature Cafe, and Signature Care, that all stood for the same consumer proposition, which is high quality and delightfully affordable products for all of life's moments. With that kind of insight we knew that if we could consolidate them to a single brand, it would help us achieve increased scale and build greater consumer awareness and loyalty for the Signature brand overall.
As we think about Own Brands as an organization our number one goal is to build loyalty of our brands and drive shoppers back to our stores with the goal of creating customers for life. So that was the overall backdrop behind it all and what led us to say, "Hey, we think there's an opportunity to consolidate these four brands into one overall Signature SELECT master brand."
SB: When you talk about providing shoppers more clarity, was Albertsons getting feedback from shoppers that they were not 100% clear on what each brand stood for?
BB: We take a consumer-back approach to our portfolio. If you walk down the aisles of a store, we just inherently found that it wasn't always clear what a certain brand would mean, what it would stand for. It was a combination of just instincts when walking a store and figuring out, "Hey, what does this brand mean? What's it saying to a customer?"
We also did research and reviewed overall brand health metrics that included awareness and satisfaction. What we saw was that our other brands such as O Organics and Open Nature generally had strong brand metrics. We thought it was really important to make sure we had very clear brand guardrails and brand strategy behind each of our brands. We felt it would drive better brand health, which then in turn drives brand loyalty.
SB: How does the rebranding enhance how the products are presented on store shelves and online and allow Albertsons to provide a more cohesive message to shoppers?
BB: Anytime we roll out a new design within a category, we then look at it on the shelf to see if it is actually standing out. With the new design of Signature SELECT, it's cleaner and simpler and a more modern approach to packaging design. We also wanted to showcase the product being used and have consistency when showcasing various flavors and descriptions. For example, anything that is spicy will have a red banner. We wanted to build that consistency across the brand to make it easier for our customers as they shopped the store.
SB: When going through the rebranding and redesign process, was it challenging to keep the brand’s overall look consistent so it would be recognizable to consumers throughout the store?
BB: One hundred percent. That's one of the biggest benefits of going through and doing a redesign and a refreshed brand strategy, is that we have an opportunity now to have a very consistent look and feel across the entire store. We have more than 8,000 items in the Signature brand. And because a lot of these items have been launched and created over the course of the past 5, 10, 15 years, the design, look, and feel has evolved over those years and they weren't always very consistent.
So that's been the biggest goal right now with the new design, to make sure we have a very consistent look and feel. So if our customers are shopping across different aisles or even across different banners and stores across the country, they will recognize the Signature logo and the Signature brand.
SB: How is Albertsons communicating this branding change to shoppers?
BB: The new Signature SELECT brand is starting to roll into stores and will do so over the next nine months. We’re also starting a marketing campaign that is coming out this summer. It talks about the new elements of the brand while also celebrating the brand’s virtues of quality, taste, value, and convenience. The campaign will showcase warm, welcoming scenes, putting the Signature SELECT brand at the center of life's moments.
We’re working to create an emotional connection with our customers and show them how Signature SELECT elevates everyday life with convenient and affordable alternatives to national brand products. Connected TV is also a big focus as is digital, social media and in-store communication.
SB: Is part of the marketing effort educating consumers that Albertsons’ private brand products are more than just national brand equivalents, but offer something unique at a strong value?
BB: When looking at the evolution of private label branding, we have to evolve from the traditional good-better-best tiered brand strategy. We think it’s important to have a portfolio of differentiated brands that cater to distinct needs and occasions. That’s why we have a wide range of brands from O Organics to Open Nature, Waterfront Bistro and Signature SELECT, because each brand has a unique proposition and identities.
SB: With Signature SELECT now serving as the master brand across thousands of products, does this open opportunities for further growth into additional categories?
BB: We’re always looking to see if there's white space opportunities for any of our brands. My hypothesis, without having the exact brand plans in front of me for the next three years, is that there's probably very few categories that Signature SELECT isn't already playing. We're in more than 550 categories and have covered the full range of categories where the brand can play. Our focus is optimizing the brand and the products within each category to make sure we're meeting the consumer needs.
SB: When looking across Albertsons’ entire private brand portfolio, what trends are currently standing out?
BB: Overall we’re seeing consumers moving towards private label and own brand products and we've seen continued strong growth over the past couple of years. Perhaps most interesting is the trend toward indulgence. Shoppers are not just looking for our private brands to supply their basics, but are open to trying unique ice cream flavors or unique pasta sauces imported from Italy. They realize there's actually some indulgence and unique value you can get from store brands and that they aren’t just national brand knock-offs or commodity items.
SB: The willingness of shoppers to buy indulgent items sold under a private brand must give your product development team more freedom to try new things.
BB: Our goal is to be ahead of trends and ahead of the national brand players. I want customers coming to Albertsons’ stores across the company because we have unique items that they can’t get anywhere else. Having an innovation model within our organization that is customer driven is how we are quick to launch new products and get unique items into the market that positions us as an innovator in the retail landscape.