The future of Private Brand is about adapting to changing consumers — and design must play a central role.

Retailers explained how they are accomplishing this imperative during the second and final day of the My Private Brand Design Summit. The virtual event included a focus on Whole Foods, which won the Vertex Award for 2021 Retailer of the Year for the Americas. The honor came from the redesign of its  365 by Whole Foods Market brand, which included new directions in color, illustration, and other elements.

“Our design team knocked it out of the park with this new look,” said Thomas Crookham, Director, Exclusive Brands, for Whole Foods, who pointed to highly positive responses from customers and the merchant teams.

Engaging Younger Consumers

A Summit presentation by Canadian retailer Metro and agency Pigeon, outlined how Metro has been preparing for the future by conducting university student competitions to help co-create new product designs.

“We have to look at the newer generations as we think about growth,” said Marie-France Gibson, Vice President of Private Brand for Metro, another Vertex award winner.

There’s little doubt that e-commerce will be an essential part of the future of Private Brands. This reality makes it imperative for retailers to improve how Private Brand items appear online, said Elise Crevier, Senior Director, Creative and Design, for online retailer Thrive Market, honored by the Vertex Awards as a Publishers Choice winner.

“Online items need to be eye-catching,” she said. “Patterns need to be bold enough to get people to click through and put items in their basket.”

Look for more coverage of the MPB online Design Summit in the coming days. Sessions will be available on demand.

Spotlighting Future Events 

The Design Summit is the second in a series of My Private Brand 2021 Summits — the first on Diversity was held earlier this year. Christopher Durham, President, My Private Brand, outlined additional events coming up for the industry:

• A virtual Innovation Summit (9/22-23) will spotlight how Private Brand can lead in the future and better engage tomorrow’s consumer preferences.
• An online Sustainability Summit (12/8-9) will focus on Private Brand leveraging product and packaging to reinforce and build sustainability initiatives.
• The Velocity Private Brand conference will return in May of next year at the Charlotte Convention Center.
• A Vertex Awards Black Tie Awards Dinner and Ceremony will take place next spring in Amsterdam.

The MPB Summits were created to focus on areas of “meaningful differentiation” for Private Brand, emphasized Durham. “Retailers and manufacturers can own these areas and they can help you win.”