Your IGA Exclusive Brand Label Redesign Rollout Plan

Aug 11, 2020

From required PPE and revamped self service areas to an increased focus on cleaning and sanitation, taking an inventory of the impact COVID-19 has had on your store in just a few short months can quickly become overwhelming. And yet, not all of that impact is bad news, particularly when it comes to IGA Exclusive Brands. 

Throughout the course of the pandemic, private label sales have skyrocketed, with retailer private brand sales rising between 70-80 percent, according to Catalina Insights data presented in a recent My Private Brand webinar. The same data shows that 42 million new shoppers bought retailers’ private brands in March and April, and at least 31 percent of new private label shoppers are purchasing the same label in subsequent visits. 

In total, 2020’s first quarter saw a 15 percent year-over-year gain of $4.9 billion in private label sales, a figure that matches the sales spike seen by IGA retailers across the U.S., according to IGA Exclusive Brand Director Robin Groscurth, who says IGA retailers ordered just over 15 percent more IGA Exclusive Brand cases in March as compared to the previous year. Moreover, Groscurth expects the trend to continue through the summer, into the fall, and well into 2021.

What does this mean for your IGA Exclusive Brand line? With shoppers’ increased focus on private label and a new look for your IGA Exclusive Brands rolling out in stores now, the stars have aligned to create one of the best opportunities we’ve seen in the brand’s nearly 100-year history for promoting your IGA Exclusive Brand line. IGA is helping you take advantage of that opportunity during the pandemic and beyond by launching a dynamic, multi-phased marketing plan designed to help you increase awareness and sales of your IGA Exclusive brand line.

And it all starts now. 

Why a new label?

According to Daymon’s just-released 2020 Private Brand Intelligence Report, private label sales are growing at twice the rate of national brands and contributing more than twice their share of retail growth.

And while private label sales have certainly been accelerated by COVID-19, the data shows private label was entering the limelight long before the virus hit, which means increased sales will likely continue long past the pandemic's end for brands and retailers who are dedicated to differentiating their private label lines.

“Shoppers have come to expect private brands to be a part of the store experience and most retailers have obliged. You can say they have become ‘table stakes,’” Daymon President Michael Taylor says. “But private brand is not just about products. It’s a service, a voice, an authority. Private brand puts a face to the name of a retailer and when executed in the right way, it becomes the driving force behind store choice.”

IGA CEO John Ross agrees, stressing that while the nearly 100-year-old IGA Exclusive Brand line has been growing along with the rest of the industry, the brand's legacy means it has the potential to mean even more to IGA shoppers. 

“When I first came on board, we initiated a systematic research process analyzing the line to determine how we could move the dial on IGA Exclusive Brands, making it an even bigger reason shoppers turn to IGA,” he says. "After many rounds of testing that compared the IGA Exclusive Brand to national brands, other private labels, and even international brands, the data confirmed that our quality is outstanding, and shoppers trust that the IGA brand is going to be higher quality and taste better versus other private label options.”

With high marks across the board, Ross and the team at IGA determined the look and strategy behind the line needed updating to make IGA Exclusive Brand stand out in an industry saturated with brands. 

Ross notes, "It had been nearly 10 years since the label has had a significant redesign," elaborating, “When I would walk into an IGA store that stands for incredible service, quality products, commitment to fresh and local, and see an IGA product on the shelf that looked cheap and dated, I knew we weren’t doing our part to give this product the support it needs.”

The New Look: A Tiered Approach

IGA Exclusive Brand

The shopper research drove the team to create a brand mission for the product line, focusing on repositioning IGA as "one of the best products on the shelf at any cost," not just in IGA stores, but everywhere.

After months of redesign working with Atlanta-based marketing and design firm Porchlight, IGA landed on a new label design with a fresh and modern look and a larger focus on educating the consumer. 

Old Label vs New Label

Left: IGA Exclusive Brand's previous label. Right: the new, updated label for IGA Exclusive Brand.

A freshly designed IGA Exclusive Brand POP kit highlights the IGA Exclusive Brand attributes centered around trust, value, quality, and the line’s double-your-money-back guarantee, while supplemental aisle blades draw attention to key categories in the store.

EB_POP_signage72PPI_800X320

Exclusive Brands Aisle Blades-800w

To help retailers get the most from the fresh new look and dynamic new signage, IGA will be working with a retailer to revamp their marketing and merchandising of the Exclusive Brand line, then sharing best practices proven to increase sales in an IGA Exclusive Brand playbook, due out later this fall. 

Stay tuned to your email and The IGA Minute for Exclusive Brand kit ordering information, coming soon.  

The Rollout to Shoppers  

When Ross decided it was time to give the face behind IGA’s brand a much-needed overhaul, he knew executing a dynamic rollout with a big push to consumers would be a critical component. He just didn’t know that the rollout would be staged against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

“Private label rollouts are a tricky business anytime—particularly in independent grocery retailing where you have multiple suppliers and wholesalers,” Ross says. “We knew products would be rolling in categories across the line for some time, but with the pandemic underway and private label sales soaring, we also know we have an unprecedented opportunity to use a dynamic label rollout to build lasting loyalty and sales for the IGA Exclusive Brand line.”

According to Groscurth, panic buying of IGA’s Exclusive Brand line has done more than increase IGA retailers’ sales. It’s also helped clear out the old label from the supply chain so more of the new look can make its way to IGA retailers’ shelves. With 50 percent of the label already on shelves and 50 percent more rolling out over the course of the next few months, IGA jumped at the opportunity to help retailers further increase sales of the IGA Exclusive Brand line.

But how do you create a big splash about IGA Exclusive Brand’s new look when pandemic-weary retailers are strapped for time and resources? The answer lies in a phased rollout that pairs dynamic, online customer engagement tactics with optional in-store displays—all focused on the one thing cooking-weary shoppers need from their local grocer: innovative meal solutions.

Family Meals Made Easy!

During COVID-19, shoppers have been turning to grocery stores to replace meals traditionally eaten outside the home, leading to overall sales increases near 40 percent. But as the pandemic wears on, even the most skilled home chefs are starting to lose inspiration.

“In the beginning of the pandemic, people were excited about elaborate cooking, baking, even growing—essentially all the things they never had time to do before,” Ross says. “Now they’re worn out and looking for simple solutions to feed their family affordable, healthy, home cooked meals.”

Enter IGA’s Family Meals Made Easy!, a multi-pronged campaign that kicks off IGA’s Exclusive Brand label rollout this fall with an online recipe sweepstakes, IGA Exclusive Brand recipes in the National Digital Ad, and adaptable resources for building recipe displays both now and in the future.

The Family Meals Made Easy! Online Recipe Contest

Just in time for September Family Meals month, IGA is asking shoppers to submit their favorite family recipe featuring IGA Exclusive Brand products for the chance to win one of two $1,000 Visa Gift Cards AND a $1,000 donation to a local food bank of the winner’s choice.

At the same time, IGA will be working with social media influencers—bloggers and content creators with a large and loyal following. The role of these influencers is three-fold:

  1. To communicate the quality of the IGA Brand product
  2. To offer meal inspiration and usage occasions
  3. To ensure a strong digital presence for the label rollout

These influencers will not only be talking about the value and quality of the IGA Brand products, but they will also share their own unique recipes made with IGA products. Some influencers will even be producing short video recipes specifically designed for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Best of all, every influencer is an actual IGA shopper living in an IGA community. 

So what’s the expected result? The influencers alone will reach over 2.5 million followers! That means 2.5 million new and existing IGA shoppers will learn about what makes IGA Exclusive Brand Products stand out from other brands from an authentic, trusted source.  

Family Meals Made Easy! Offers, Online Recipe Club, and In-Store Display

Tying in with the sweepstakes, IGA is also using the National Digital Ad to highlight the new label and bring shoppers more meal solution ideas. Beginning August 23 and carrying on through October 3, your IGA National Digital Ad will feature a host of IGA Exclusive Brand offers tied to original recipes featured in the ad and on IGA.com

Retailers who want to take their promotion of the new label to the next level and provide shoppers with a one-stop-shop for quick and easy meals are encouraged to raise their hand to receive a complementary Family Meals Made Easy! POP kit (courtesy of Red Oval Partner Coca-Cola ). Once the limited quantity of complimentary kits are gone, they will be available for purchase or download., complete with an evergreen hanging sign, recipe cards highlighting each of the featured recipes, and a stanchion sign with QR code linking to the IGA Recipe Club (coming soon to IGA.com), where shoppers can peruse a constantly updated bank of recipes and sign up to have new recipes sent to their inbox each month. 

"We know IGA retailers are busier than they've ever been," Ross says, "and it's not lost on us that as much as you're doing right now, rolling out a display campaign means we're asking you to do more. But there's a great reason behind it: Shoppers need quick and easy meal solutions more than ever before, and we want to give you every single resource we can to make to meet their needs and keep the 'food away from home' dollars you've picked up."

According to Ross, Family Meals Made Easy!—like all IGA programs—was designed to be tailored to fit retailers' individual needs. "Don't have an Exclusive Brand product featured in the ad? Fill in with a national brand. Want to run your recipe display outside the ad timeframe? Grab a recipe from the Recipe Club and go to town. Want to create your own recipes to use in the display? Or just throw some pasta, spaghetti sauce, bread, and wine on the end-cap and call it a day? Do it. The data tells us you don't have to have an offer to see a sales increase with a meal solution. You just have to display it in a way that makes it easy for shoppers to grab it, put it together quickly, and get it on the table," he says.

IGA Exclusive Brand end-cap

 

order your Family Meals Made Easy! POP kit today

Moving into 2021, IGA will continue to provide resources to help you promote IGA Exclusive Brand’s new look, raise awareness and trial, and build lasting loyalty for the line. The Family Meals Made Easy! recipe book launching in January 2021 will provide continued opportunities for featuring IGA Exclusive Brand products in the National Digital Ad, and new Family Meals Made Easy! display resources will be launched each month throughout the year. 

The Timeline at a Glance 

Check out the timeline below for a look at the entire campaign from September 2020 to December 2021. 

PHASE 1: Big Impact – Fall 2020

September

  • Family Meals Month IGA Exclusive Brand takeover of the National Digital Ad
  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipes/resources for in-store display
  • Family Meals Made Easy! Recipe Sweepstakes on IGA.com (backed by influencer marketing and media buy)
  • IGA Exclusive Brand signage available for purchase

October & November

  • Family Meals Made Easy! Recipe Sweepstakes on IGA.com (backed by influencer marketing and media buy)
  • IGA Exclusive Brand Best Practices Playbook (sign usage, aisle reset case study, marketing tips, promotional support, recipe promotion etc)
  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipes/resources for in-store display

PHASE 2: Sustained Awareness – Winter 2020 through Winter 2021

December

  • Announce Family Meals Made Easy! Recipe Sweepstakes winners and award money to local food bank
  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipes/resources for in-store display

January

  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipe digital cookbook becomes available
  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipes/resources for in-store display

February through December

  • Family Meals Made Easy! recipes/resources for in-store display
Your IGA Exclusive Brand Rollout To-do List 
  1. Check with your wholesaler to secure a wide array of IGA Exclusive Brand products for the months ahead (including those featured in recipes the National Digital Ad August 23 through October 3), and to learn what IGA Exclusive Brand events they have planned to complement the national campaign. 
  2. Sign up today for your FREE Family Meals Made Easy! POP kit so you can build displays corresponding with National Digital Ad offers and IGA-supplied recipes in September and beyond. 
  3. Stay tuned to your email, The IGA Minute, and www.iga.com/corporate/products for more resources coming your way soon, from the IGA Exclusive Brand POP kit featuring the label’s new look to website and social media graphics that will help you promote rollout events. 

Have questions about IGA Exclusive Brand products or the rollout campaign? Contact IGA’s Robin Groscurth at RGroscurth@igainc.com

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