After reading Martin Lindstrom's Buyology, I think brands still matter amidst the omnipresence of private labels. The reason is that these labels are parasite brands. Most of their "brand equity" is derived from the host brands. For instance, I use Head and Shoulders because my scalp is dry. I know that both Walmart and Target sell their own private labels and the packages look really close to Head and Shoulders'. If P&G discontinues Head and Shoulders, those private labels will not survive for long. Customers might switch to the private labels for a brief period of time, but the retention rate will erode fast because the brand assoications are weak. Other major brands will sweep into the void and snatch the customers away. When the host brands die, the parasite brands will wither away.

I'm back online

I've moved to South Florida and reunited with my wife....Yeahhhhh...The move was not a lot of work since the only things that I have were clothes, books and binders. South Florida's climate is so balmy in December. We spent the Christmas together at home since we don't know anyone in the area....(We need to go out to make some new friends). New Year's Eve was the same...staying at home watching movies and TV....how boring...I know...Hopefully, the coming year will be more eventful..

H&M and Walmart threw away unsold clothes...........destroyed

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/h-m-and-wal-mart-destroy-and-trash-unsold-goods-562909/


H&M and Walmart were caught slashing up unsold clothes and throwing them away in garbage bags. I don't understand why they did something so stupid, especially not long ago we lambasted corporate executives for taking excessive bonuses. They could have resold them to Ross or Marshalls. I'm sure lots of disadvantaged families and individuals would have benefited from free clothes. It's hard to belive that a cost conscious company like Walmart wasted such a good revenue stream. The worst case is they could donate the clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army or give them to their hourly employees who make pittance.