Velocity Day 1: Size Isn’t All That Matters in Private Brands

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The opening day of Velocity Global featured presentations from some of the largest private brand retailers — including Walmart and CVS Health.

However, a key takeaway was that success in private brands is about far more than just size and scale.

For CVS Health, success is about developing consumer insights, said speaker Brenda Lord, Vice President of Store Brands and Quality Assurance.

“We work to understand our customers’ healthcare needs, and be trend-right and a fun place to be,” she said.

Walmart Canada’s Ivo Petroff, Category Manager, described his organization’s new exclusive partnership leveraging the authentic Italian private brand from Coop Italia Fior Fiore — and relayed a view of what makes Private Brands unique.

“We believe private label is not just a label, it’s a mindset,” he said. “It means products developed based on customer needs, which is genuine customer-centric development.”

Speaking of size, Velocity Global has surpassed 500 registered attendees in some 15 countries, leveraging its unique virtual-event approach for 2020, said Christopher Durham, founder of Velocity and President of My Private Brand.

The event’s opening day also featured a riveting panel on diversity that included executives from Catalina and FedUp Foods.

Among other unique elements of Velocity Global’s opening day:

A special track on COVID-19 spotlighted timely insights from executives at companies including Daymon, IGD, and Catalina.
A series of compelling roundtables addressed topics ranging from brand building to transparency.
An Innovation Expo featured companies exhibiting a wide range of products and categories.
Other presenters included executives from Boxed, Sobeys, Nexcom, Marketing By Design, PriceSmart, FMI, Coop Italia and Oracle.

Meanwhile, there’s lots more ahead tomorrow at Velocity Global. The Wednesday sessions will include Wakefern Food Corp.’s presentation on its private brand transformation; Carrefour’s take on the power of integrated design; a discussion about inclusion featuring executives from Federated Group and Ahold Delhaize; a look inside the Private Label Manufacturers Association from its new President, and a special conference track on this year’s Vertex Awards.

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By Christopher DurhamPublished On: August 4th, 2020Tags: R-BASIC, R-PRO, SP-BASIC, SP-PLUS, SP-PRO, Velocity

About the Author: Christopher Durham

Christopher Durham is the president of the Velocity Institute. Prior to this he founded the groundbreaking site My Private Brand. He is the co-founder of The Vertex Awards. He began his retail career building brands at Food Lion and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Durham has worked with retailers around the world, including Albertsons, Family Dollar, Petco, Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, Metro Canada. Durham has published seven definitive books on private brands, including Fifty2: The My Private Brand Project and Vanguard: Vintage Originals.