"real,-" Hypermarket Launches Proprietary Brand

Cosmina Capalau

The hypermarket chain "real,-" has launched the proprietary brand "real,- Quality" encompassing over 200 products which are already available in the 21 hypermarkets opened in Romania. "We have officially launched products under our proprietary brand. During this crisis, we offer shoppers a less expensive alternative to better known and more expensive brands," said "real,-" Hypermarket CEO Tjeerd Jegen. "The proprietary brand is also a protection mechanism against the discounts that our competitors may offer," he added.

"real,-" representatives are confident that these products are comparable to the "famous brand" products in terms of quality, but are more appealing to consumers due to the smaller retail price. Shoppers can save up to 20% by choosing "real,-" products instead of similar products which are better known and lead the respective market segment.

• Over 2000 products by 2012

"In a first phase, over 200 "real,- Quality" products have become available in our stores in the last few months. We will continue to expand the portfolio of proprietary products to a total of 2,000 products by early 2012. Our medium-term target is to have proprietary brand products account for up to 20% of our food sales," Jegen said.

While developing the "real,- Quality" brand, the retailer has also introduced two other proprietary brands: "real,- Bio" for products of controlled biological origin and "real,- Selection" for premium products, which have already established a foothold on the German and Polish markets. The retailer planes to expand the two brands to approximately 140 products in total by the end of the year.

For the time being, most of the products sold under this brand come from Germany (approximately 150 products), Romania (60 products) and Poland. "real,-" management said they were considering exporting Romanian-made products under the "real,-" brand to other countries in the following few years.

• The product - the star of the promotion campaign

To consolidate the new "real,-" proprietary brand on the market, the retailer will implement a strong promotion campaign based on a complete marketing mix. The campaign will be implemented countrywide on all media. "The objectives of the campaign are to create consumer awareness of the "real,- Quality" brand as an alternative to better known and more expensive brands, as well as customer loyalization and willingness to try the product. Our message is that, by choosing these products, customers can afford a larger quantity of the quality they have grown used to," said Stefan Runcanu, Marketing Division Manager of "real,-".