2023-09-29 04:44:00
This is a phenomenon that distributors often miss. Entry-level, or resolutely low-cost, products, sometimes coupled with kitsch, are so popular with consumers that they become cult. Previously, these cheap, low-cost, hard-talking brands (which have since been renamed smart discount, which already reflects a change in mentalities) were frowned upon, judged to be of poor quality and quite pejoratively associated with poverty. We didn’t dare say that we shopped at Aldi, because that meant we mightn’t afford it. Today, this form of shame has completely disappeared. You just need to see the cars in the parking lots of these low-cost brands to understand that Mr. and Mrs. Everybody shops there.
Kitch, ultimately, is hype. And we know that what is hype is not rational. This doesn’t just affect low-cost brands. We see this in particular with the Christmas sweater phenomenon. What might be more kitsch and yet there is a Christmas sweater day. The unicorn or pink flamingo phenomenon has also been expressed in clothing, decorative accessories and other gadgets which have been snapped up like hotcakes even though it mightn’t be more kitsch. As if, all social classes combined, we like to claim a certain form of beaufitude.
The German brand’s “ugly” Christmas sweaters have created a buzz. © LIDL
Lidl, king of buzz with kitsch accents
Lidl has truly mastered the art of creating buzz with collections of shoes, flip-flops, socks and other clothing featuring the brand’s brand. For fashion specialists, this is not a new phenomenon, which consists of reappropriating street codes. What luxury brands have been doing for a long time. The stars also largely contributed to this success. As for sneakers, we saw Booba, the rapper, post a photo of himself with sneakers on his feet. Just like Djibril Cissé, a French footballer who is happy to wear shoes from the brand of the store where his mother did her shopping when he was little. Later, in 2022, in the middle of the World Cup, Lidl will call on the former football star to embody its brand new clothing collection.
Djibril Cissé, face of the Lidl clothing collection in 2022.
However, even the brand did not see this success coming. This “delusion”, the executive purchasing and marketing director of Lidl France, Michel Biero, assures that he did not see it coming. Orders for the brand’s products are normally made a year in advance, he “passed his way” on sneakers in June 2019, thinking that Lidl shoes, he was “never going to sell them”, in his opinion. own admission.
Around a hundred pairs are still purchased, to send them to influencers. We know what happened next and the thousands of pairs ordered were snapped up like hotcakes in a few minutes in stores, only to be immediately found at crazy prices on second-hand sites. Since then, Lidl has orchestrated each product release with brilliant marketing, focusing in particular on rarity by voluntarily putting a limited number of products on sale, mimicking the adage that what is rare and expensive… while offering these products to floor prices. With textiles, Lidl also occupies an area that appeals to young people, which is very intelligent because young people are not their usual clientele. But they contact them, hoping to retain them so that they become customers later.
Don’t touch my cheap
These “low-cost” brands are so popular that consumers do not hesitate to oppose distributors when they consider removing them, or simply changing their name. We saw this when Colruyt wanted to change the name of the Carapils. Directly, there was an outcry, groups were formed on Facebook to influence the distributor, even going so far as to call for a boycott. Colruyt wanted, like Aldi which is removing the Pirato brand, to standardize its own brands under the Everyday label. But faced with consumer pressure, Colruyt had no choice but to reverse course and maintain Carapils. “We maintain a certain loyalty to the brands we love and it’s always a bold bet for a company to change a well-known and appreciated name.” Those nostalgic for the Raider continue to call it that even though it has been years since the name Twix first appeared. The same goes for Lotus and its famous Biskoff rebranded speculoos to standardize the brand name internationally.
The “Cara”, a real star in the beer aisles, very popular with students in particular. ©Belga
Aldi offers retirement to Pirato
A few days ago, Aldi announced that it would eliminate the Pirato brand, wishing to group all of its savory snacks under the Sun Snacks label. Other products, in other departments, will suffer the same fate. In total, more than 100 names will be removed. The goal is to keep 55 names, but it will take time to get there. A delicate operation also for the distributor, who knows that its Pirato brand is emblematic. This is why the transition will be smooth and Pirato will not disappear until next year. To familiarize consumers with the name change, Aldi is playing the humor card, with a message affixed to its packages, featuring Pirato himself. “Hey friends. After years of sailing, I find myself on a paradise island. Here, I enjoy my retirement under a radiant sun. That’s why your favorite Pirato snacks will soon be called Sun Snacks”.
Pirato will disappear from the shelves, at least its name.
No product deletion is planned by Aldi, which is content to refocus its own brands under more restricted labels. “Internationally, we are in the process of rethinking private label,” Jason Sevestre, a spokesperson, told Media House newspapers. “We want to move towards fewer brands, not fewer products, but simply fewer different names. The goal is to increase identification. So we have several other snacks that have their own names besides Pirato. They will all be grouped under the name Sun Snacks. It is also useful that when you enter an Aldi in Spain, for example, you find the same brands as here. It is clearer. But that means we also have to make choices”. For Aldi, it is also a way of reducing costs and the smart discounter intends to benefit its customers.
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