Consumer polarization: Strategies for brand manufacturers

The consumer landscape is polarizing, with shoppers gravitating toward both cheaper and more premium alternatives. This shift is reshaping market shares for brand manufacturers. Value-for-money products and premium brands gain traction while your core brands suffer. To stay competitive, you need to harness consumer pricing and other revenue growth management (RGM) levers.

Seven consumer polarization trends

1.    Budget constraints drive downtrading
When purchasing power is under pressure, consumers tend to opt for cheaper alternatives (downtrading). Recent inflationary measures amplify the expanding price gap between established A-brands and private label alternatives. To stretch their funds, many shoppers who previously bought well-known brands are now opting for store brands.

2.    Brand loyalty and category switching
Interestingly, not all consumers are willing to switch to private labels.…