Strategic brand alliances: implications of ingredient branding for national and private label brands

• Published in: The journal of product & brand management Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 214 - 228
• Main Authors: Vaidyanathan, Rajiv, Aggarwal, Praveen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Santa Barbara MCB UP Ltd 01.07.2000; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Alliances; Brand equity; Brand image; Brand loyalty; Brand names; Brands; Consumer behaviour; Consumers; Cost control; House brands; Ingredients; Marketing; Ownlabel goods; Product development; Product quality; Statistical analysis; Studies; Product quality; Brands; Own-label goods; Brand equity; Consumer behaviour
• ISSN: 1061-0421; 2054-1643
• DOI: 10.1108/10610420010344013

Current research on brand alliances has focused primarily on alliances between two known, national brands. However, there is significant benefit to both parties in an alliance between a national brand and a private brand. Such alliances are gaining importance in the industry but have not been studied by marketers. The basic question explored in this study is whether using a national brand ingredient can benefit a private brand without hurting the national brand. First, a theoretical framework to explain how consumers may react to such an alliance is presented. Next, an experiment was conducted which showed that a private brand with a name brand ingredient was evaluated more positively. However, the evaluation of the national brand was not diminished by this association. Implications and future research directions are discussed.