Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(January 2007) posted on Tue Sep 08, 2009

By Ron Romanik

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The brand managers at Safeway Inc. do not manage private label products and packages, they manage consumer brands. And maybe more importantly, they manage quality products and packages that build consumers' trust in Safeway products. With the ambitious and successful introduction of the O Organics line of 150 products in Safeway stores last year, Safeway's top brand managers were further convinced of the power of their brands.

Today, led by senior v.p. of consumer brands James White, they are implementing a bold plan to the revitalize the 4000+ store brand items that have made Safeway as powerful as any CPG company. Possibly the boldest idea is to consolidate 70 private label brands under their strongest 10 "Power Brands," and to refine the packaging in each brand. One of these Power Brands is Safeway SELECT™, a line of premium products introduced 15 years ago and now undergoing a package redesign rollout.

Safeway consumer relevance

White explains how the Safeway Select brand and packaging made it the first Power Brand for Safeway—and will reestablish its power again. "Design is playing a critical role in building brands for Safeway," White says. He is overseeing the company's entire Consumer Brands organization including its marketing, manufacturing, finance, and outside sales functions. Prior to joining Safeway, White was with the Gillette Company where he spent three years as senior v.p. for business development, North America.

In all their package design work, Safeway aims for clear, clean presentations. "We're trying to be very telegraphic with benefit messages," says White. Many of the longstanding Safeway™ "S" Brand packages now feature icons to help consumers make the right choices for their needs. These icons are consistent across categories for easy recognition and serve to educate, inform, and solve problems for the consumer.

"Our goal is to make the shopping experience simple and straightforward," says Matt Miller, v.p. of marketing/brand strategy & development at Safeway. Miller brings his 11 years of experience at Nestle to set the strategic direction of Safeway's branded business in terms of brand management strategy, channel and consumer marketing strategy, and the development of integrated and comprehensive marketing plans for the Safeway brands.