Editor’s blog: What superhero approach do you take?

The other day, I saw the entertaining new movie “Spider-Man: Homecoming” with my kids. In this film, Peter Parker is mentored by Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, a leader and founding member of Marvel’s Avengers. With disparate abilities, the Marvel superheroes working together as a team are an indomitable force — far more powerful than Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor and the others would be acting alone.

Seeing the latest Spider-Man film reminded me of a conversation I had recently with Pete Killian, a principal at Chicago-based The Cambridge Group who has expertise in private brands. He explained that grocery retailers with successful private brand programs tend to take either an Avengers or a Superman approach to their store brands.

Arguably the most powerful of superheroes, D.C. Comics’ Superman has superhuman strength, incredible speed, X-ray vision and enhanced hearing and can fly. Accordingly, a Superman strategy with store brands means that a retailer has one notable brand that “is doing it all,” Killian said. “Basically it’s one brand across every category. It has slightly different meanings in each category, but it’s generally known to be extraordinarily high quality.”

Costco’s nearly 20-year-old Kirkland Signature brand is an excellent example of this: one super-strong brand with a reputation for quality that resonates across the retailer’s customer base. And more recently, Sam’s Club has embraced a Superman approach with its Member’s Mark brand, as the cover story in Store Brands’ July issue will recount in detail.

In contrast, an Avengers strategy means multiple brands across different categories or even within one category. Retailers adopting a tiered approach to store brands typically favor this strategy as do mainstream chains that are rolling out organic and other free-from lines.

The Kroger Co., for example, uses an Avengers approach with its Kroger, Simple Truth, Private Selection, HemisFares, Big K and other brands as does Walgreens Boots Alliance with its Nice!, Well at Walgreens, and several skincare and cosmetic brands, Killian noted.

Now most retailers, unless they’re Cambridge Group clients, probably aren’t asking themselves, “Should I follow a Superman or Avengers strategy with my store brands?” But the distinction is a useful one at a time when consumers are less loyal to national brands and more willing than ever before to try store brands — a time when millennials are influencing retailers and manufacturers to make products that are cleaner label and more transparent, sustainable and wellness-oriented. To address changing consumer demands, many retailers have rolled out, or are on the brink of rolling out, new brands, lines and products.

One strategy isn’t necessarily better than the other. The choice depends on the needs and preferences of a particular chain’s customers, the competitive environment and the company’s mission.

The multiple-hero Avengers approach is more difficult to execute well because a variety of specialized brands (the national brand equivalent, the value brand, the premium brand, the sustainable brand, the organic brand, etc.) all need attention and muscle behind them. “More investment is required to build these brands and support them over time,” Killian observed.

But when the customer base is diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, geography, finances and social priorities, retailers may be able to meet shoppers’ needs better and generate more sales with multiple store brands. This is what Walgreens is banking on in the skincare category; it’s building up distinct followings for its zany pink-packaged Soap & Glory brand, its sleek and sophisticated No7 brand and its newer plant-derived Botanics brand.

The power and simplicity of the Superman strategy is undeniably appealing, however, as Killian emphasized. Retailers adopting this approach can put their efforts into ensuring that their one store brand is the apotheosis of both quality and value.

Chains that are not planning to revamp or launch store brands still benefit from understanding whether they currently take more of a Superman or Avengers approach. This insight enables retailers to better benchmark themselves against competitors and against the market to see whether they are relatively over- or underdeveloped by category, according to Killian.

In a marketplace of intensifying competition, do you have what it takes to defeat your archrivals?