Monday, February 15, 2010

Do brands really matter when times are hard?

Product overload: Stores are threatening to dump brands - Feb. 15, 2010

According to this article on CNN, Wal-Mart is trimming the 'fat' on its shelves. During this economic downturn when consumers are only spending on necessities, the retail giant is pulling brand name products in various categories including household cleaners. Most producers are having to make price cuts to keep their products on retail shelves. Instead of expanding product lines, their current challenge is to stay afloat in these hard time because really, as a consumer, I know I will not think twice about spending the extra dollar on a brand name trash bag when I can get the generic for much less.

1 comment:

  1. I did the same with nicotine patches last week. I saw a Nicoderm ad on TV, decided to use nicotine patches. When I saw that Nicoderm was 49.99 and the generic brand was 26.99, I instantly know which one to buy.

    But still, if the brand name is strong enough, if the perception is strong enough for the customer, I beliee people will continue to buy the brands. I wouldn't buy a generic brand shampoo for example.

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