Migros = Coop = Denner = Spar
Study Two-thirds of German consumers perceive brands as interchangeable. This also applies to Switzerland.
Study Two-thirds of German consumers perceive brands as interchangeable. This also applies to Switzerland.
"Refreshingly cheap", "Guaranteed cheap", "Super cheap", "Branded cheap": Anyone who looks at the ads of Swiss retailers will definitely gain one insight: The price is hot. What the interested consumer will hardly remember, however, is the brand of the individual supplier. So how cheap is it at Migros? What is the difference between the savings strategies of Coop and Pick Pay? And what, apart from the price, distinguishes the individual retail companies? The subjective perception is now confirmed by a new study from Germany. The main finding of the representative "Brand Parity" survey by BBDO Consulting: two-thirds of all Germans perceive brands as completely interchangeable. Among retail chains, it is exactly 67 percent of consumers who perceive complete brand parity.
More than one million brands are now registered in Germany, and around 60,000 of them are actively advertised. In Switzerland alone, there are around 200,000 national brands in the register. Here and there, consumers come into contact with several hundred brands every day - so it's easy to lose track of them all.
This is clearly confirmed by further results of the study: while retailers are still in the middle of the pack, the perceived brand equality for consumer goods such as gasoline or paper towels is no less than 80 percent. And even in product groups with supposedly strong brands, such as cola drinks, interchangeability is still reported at 76 percent.
The sheer quantity of advertising spend plays no role in the clear positioning of a brand: for example, even the heavily advertised detergent brands can hardly be distinguished from one another. The biggest ray of hope comes from car manufacturers: of the consumers surveyed, "only" 29 percent identified brand parity here.
Switzerland functions in the same wayThe results of the study from Germany are certainly transferable to the Swiss market, says Sandro C. Principe, Managing Partner at BBDO Consulting Zurich. Many industries, such as banks and insurance companies, are globally active today. Accordingly, brand appearances and their perception are similar in different countries. According to the BBDO man, many companies do not manage to position their brand in a sustainable and differentiated way (see also interview below). Consequently, there is still a lot of untapped potential for value creation here. According to the consulting firm, two industries in particular need to think about how they can clearly distinguish their brand profile in the future: banks - whose services hardly differ from those of their competitors - and energy providers - in view of the liberalization process in the Swiss market.
Despite the rather sobering results of the study, Sandro Principe notes that the brand is gaining in importance - at least on the entrepreneurial side: "More and more companies want to know about their brand value." This is also against the background of the fact that brand value will have to be reported in the balance sheet in the future following a takeover or merger. A recent ranking of the most valuable Swiss brands by Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux on behalf of Bilanz showed that this is not a matter of small amounts: Nestlé's Nescafé came in first. The brand value: 14.8 billion Swiss francs.
RepresentativeOn behalf of BBDO Consulting, the consumer research company GfK surveyed around 2,000 people in Germany between October 1 and 15, 2004. The women and men surveyed are representative of the German resident population aged 14 and over.
BBDO Consulting is the international top management consultancy for market-oriented corporate management of the BBDO Group. The Zurich office of BBDO Consulting was founded in May 2003. Clients of the Swiss Dependence include Credit Suisse, Swisscom, Bluewin, Bank Leu, Roche and Voice Publishing. (ps)
Rabbit or duck? Even with brands Hans is what Heiri.
Patrick Steinemann
"Refreshingly cheap", "Guaranteed cheap", "Super cheap", "Branded cheap": Anyone who looks at the ads of Swiss retailers will definitely gain one insight: The price is hot. What the interested consumer will hardly remember, however, is the brand of the individual supplier. So how cheap is it at Migros? What is the difference between the savings strategies of Coop and Pick Pay? And what, apart from the price, distinguishes the individual retail companies? The subjective perception is now confirmed by a new study from Germany. The main finding of the representative "Brand Parity" survey by BBDO Consulting: two-thirds of all Germans perceive brands as completely interchangeable. Among retail chains, it is exactly 67 percent of consumers who perceive complete brand parity.
More than one million brands are now registered in Germany, and around 60,000 of them are actively advertised. In Switzerland alone, there are around 200,000 national brands in the register. Here and there, consumers come into contact with several hundred brands every day - so it's easy to lose track of them all.
This is clearly confirmed by further results of the study: while retailers are still in the middle of the pack, the perceived brand equality for consumer goods such as gasoline or paper towels is no less than 80 percent. And even in product groups with supposedly strong brands, such as cola drinks, interchangeability is still reported at 76 percent.
The sheer quantity of advertising spend plays no role in the clear positioning of a brand: for example, even the heavily advertised detergent brands can hardly be distinguished from one another. The biggest ray of hope comes from car manufacturers: of the consumers surveyed, "only" 29 percent identified brand parity here.
Switzerland functions in the same wayThe results of the study from Germany are certainly transferable to the Swiss market, says Sandro C. Principe, Managing Partner at BBDO Consulting Zurich. Many industries, such as banks and insurance companies, are globally active today. Accordingly, brand appearances and their perception are similar in different countries. According to the BBDO man, many companies do not manage to position their brand in a sustainable and differentiated way (see also interview below). Consequently, there is still a lot of untapped potential for value creation here. According to the consulting firm, two industries in particular need to think about how they can clearly distinguish their brand profile in the future: banks - whose services hardly differ from those of their competitors - and energy providers - in view of the liberalization process in the Swiss market.
Despite the rather sobering results of the study, Sandro Principe notes that the brand is gaining in importance - at least on the entrepreneurial side: "More and more companies want to know about their brand value." This is also against the background of the fact that brand value will have to be reported in the balance sheet in the future following a takeover or merger. A recent ranking of the most valuable Swiss brands by Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux on behalf of Bilanz showed that this is not a matter of small amounts: Nestlé's Nescafé came in first. The brand value: 14.8 billion Swiss francs.
RepresentativeOn behalf of BBDO Consulting, the consumer research company GfK surveyed around 2,000 people in Germany between October 1 and 15, 2004. The women and men surveyed are representative of the German resident population aged 14 and over.
BBDO Consulting is the international top management consultancy for market-oriented corporate management of the BBDO Group. The Zurich office of BBDO Consulting was founded in May 2003. Clients of the Swiss Dependence include Credit Suisse, Swisscom, Bluewin, Bank Leu, Roche and Voice Publishing. (ps)
Rabbit or duck? Even with brands Hans is what Heiri.
Patrick Steinemann
