Brand names still matter in blank videocassettes - 1994 Power Brands, part 2 - Industry Overview

Discount Store News, Oct 17, 1994

While blank videocassettes has come very close to commodity status, there is still a surprisingly high incidence of brand preference in the category.

Blank Videocassettes: Consumer Brand Preference

(Among consumers who shopped discount stores in the past year)

                       All Discount

Power Brands(1)           Stores      Wal-Mart   Kmart   Target
Kodak                       18%         21%       18%     16%
Polaroid                    13          16        12      10
Maxell                      12          10        10      22
TDK                         11          10        12      14
Sony                        11          8         11      12
Fuji                        10          9         8       10
Scotch/3M                   9           7         10      6
Memorex                     8           10        9       7
BASF                        6           6         6       4
Panasonic                   1           2         2       --
  Rank by
Store Managers(2)
Sony
Kodak
TDK
Scotch/3M
Polaroid
Memorex
Maxell
BASF
Fuji
Forcal

(1)Based upon discount store consumers' response to the question: "If you were shopping for (product) in discount department stores, which brand of that product would you want?"

(2)Based upon store managers' response to the question: "What are the best performing brands in (department)?"

Source: DSN/Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, July 1994

Life stage analysis: Blank Videocassettes

(top brands by age group)

      Busters            Boomers           Empty Nesters


     (Under 35)          (35-49)           (50 and over)

Kodak       18%   Kodak         20%   Memorex           20%
TDK         14    Maxell        14    Sony              16
Polaroid    11    Polaroid      14    Kodak             14
Scotch/3M   11    Fuji          13    Maxell            13
Sony        10    TDK           11    Polaroid          12

Source: DSN/Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, July 1994

About 72% of consumers said they had a brand preference in this category, and among younger consumers, that percentage approached 80%. For a near commodity, that is astounding. Consumers were as likely to have a preferred videocassette brand as they were to have one in computer hardware, housewares, personal care appliances and computer software, relatively brand-intensive categories.

On the other hand, more than half of consumers would consider a PL blank videotape purchase, a figure much higher than most of those categories. Consumers may prefer a brand, but their loyalty to that brand is fleeting particularly when price and selection are factored into the equation.

Two-thirds of consumers said they would switch brands if their preferred label was unavailable, on par with responses from the last two years.

Overall, consumers are satisfied with the merchandise assortment at discounters. On a nine-point scale measuring consumer confidence of finding their favorite brands, blank videocassettes scored 7.96, right behind household cleaners, film and candy and snacks. More than half, 54%, said they were certain--rating their confidence level a "nine"--of finding their preferred brand.

Consumers' Top 10 list of preferred brands looks like last year's lineup with only one change. JVC dropped off the Top 10 to 13th, replaced by Panasonic. Scotch/3M was the only other brand to drop significantly, from No. 2 to No. 7. No brand moved up more than three places.

Returning were Kodak, Polaroid, Maxell, TDK, Sony, Fuji, Scotch/3M, Memorex, BASF and Panasonic. The only difference between the consumer and retailer lists was Panasonic for consumers and Focal, Kmart's private label brand, for retailers.

These high profile brand names were well represented on the Power Brands list, which is composed of brands that performed well with both retailers and consumers in individual surveys. Leading the way were Kodak, Polaroid and TDK.

Retailers showed very wide fluctuations from chain to chain in reporting brand performance, and their shoppers seemed to be influenced in brand preference by what they could find on their favorite store's shelves.

For instance, Polaroid, Wal-Mart's No. 1 brand, performed significantly better among Wal-Mart shoppers than with Kmart or Target customers. Kodak was stronger than average with both Wal-Mart merchants and customers as well as with Kmart and Target shoppers. However, Target shoppers said Maxell was their preferred brand, followed by Kodak, TDK, Fuji and Polaroid.

Wal-Mart shoppers said they look for Kodak first, then Polaroid, TDK, Memorex and Maxell. Kmart shoppers look first for Kodak, then Polaroid, TDK, Sony and Scotch/3M.

Age seems to have a large impact on brand preference. Memorex was the preferred brand with Empty Nesters, while Kodak won with Boomers and Busters. Boomers also liked Maxell, Polaroid, Fuji and TDK while Busters cited TDK, Polaroid, Scotch/3M and Sony.

The big surprise in '94 is the relatively weak performance of the strongest single brand in the audio/video world, Sony. The brand was ranked No. 1 with retailers this year, and finished strongly among consumers in other product categories in which it competes. Yet for two years the brand, which appears to have the largest single market share in the category, has finished fifth in consumer preference. In light of its overwhelming power in CE, that is deeply puzzling.