Captive Brands for Captive Audiences
I have recently learned a new marketing term: Captive Brand.
A captive brand is similar to the concept of a store brand. While it is exclusively available at the particular store and perhaps its subsidiaries, it does not carry the imprint of the store, and it is produced by a third party. Many times, the company will have its own website and marketing as well, at least to appear at arm’s length. There are times when a captive brand appears amid not just national brands but a store imprint as well.
For example, Towncraft by JCPenney is a store brand. George is a captive brand sold at Wal*Mart and at ASDA, its British counterpart. You can go to the George website and it talks about the company, but on its store locator, there are only the above mentioned. The history section mentions:
George has taken the steps to becoming a global brand with ranges now being sold in six different countries – UK, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Japan and the US.
(Coincidentally, Wal*Mart has opened in all of those markets.)
Searching for Towncraft will yield you Towncraft at JCPenney. As we know, Towncraft has been synonymous with the casual men’s department at Penneys for decades. Conceivably, if a chain folded or left the area, the captive brand could be shopped around, but I have not really seen it happen.
I know there are many examples of a captive brand not only appearing in a store amid national brands. For example, Towncraft would appear in the same department as Levi’s Dockers. However, at the moment, I cannot think of too many captive brands that appear with a national and a store imprint. The best example of seeing all three together is with beauty products. For example, Garnier is a national brand, bioInfusion is a captive brand at Walgreen’s, and there is also a more generic Walgreen’s label brand shampoo that may be the same thing.
Why are they called “captive brands?” Like a store brand, the captive brand requires the shopper to return to the store to purchase it. The brand cannot be purchased at a competitor’s store. Then, why not just leave it at the store brand? The captive brand may seem “value added” to the consumer. Some people have the impression that a store brand is “generic” or “second rate” to a more “prestigious” national brand. That notion may sound a bit vapid, but just ask your average parent during “back to school shopping” days trying to get through the mall in one piece without their head exploding from hearing “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that.”
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