Like all brands selling in supermarkets, you need to think about a product strategy that will enable you to stand out from the competition. At the heart of these considerations is the flagship product! This is the first product that customers think of when they hear about your brand. It's the product that generates the most sales for your brand. It plays a central role in your brand's sales strategy, and therefore has a significant impact on your supermarket sales.
In this article, we'll look at the essential issues of the flagship product, its place in your marketing strategy, and how to define it, with a view to your company's overall performance.
The term "flagship product" refers to a particularly important, emblematic or popular product of a company. It is generally the brand's best-selling product, generates a significant proportion of its revenues, and is widely recognized by customers. It symbolizes the brand and is often associated with its success.
The flagship product plays a key role in your marketing strategy and market position. It can also be the product that sets you apart from your competitors and makes a significant contribution to your reputation and brand awareness.
The flagship product, also known as the "star product" or "leading product", is your brand's signature: an identifiable, recognizable product that consumers associate with your name.
The flagship product is often the entry point to your range or brand. Choosing a flagship product must therefore be accompanied by an assortment strategy. It therefore implies a global reflection on all the products you offer for sale in supermarkets.
The main objectives of the flagship product in supermarkets are as follows:
Choosing your flagship product is a crucial decision that can define the success of your business.
However, bear in mind that, even if you choose one product, your end-customers may prefer another of your references: in the end, the flagship product is as much your choice as it is yours!
When selecting a product that you hope will become your flagship, you need to carefully analyze the elements that structure your market. Here are the main ones:
To help you choose your flagship product, you can use the BCG matrix. This practical tool will help your brand allocate its resources by identifying the most promising opportunities and recognizing less profitable sectors/products to divest or abandon.
Also known as the Boston Consulting Group's "Growth/Market Share Matrix", it is used to help you analyze your products. The matrix classifies them into four categories based on two dimensions: market growth and relative market share.
Here are the four categories:
The life cycle of a product is quite similar. When it's a flagship product, it's like a cash cow. It helps finance your next innovation, which will then eventually become a flagship product in its own right, pushing the previous one into the background. Your new flagship product can then finance your next innovation.
The flagship product must be able to capture attention, build customer loyalty, and play a central role in the company's overall strategy.
In addition, choose a product that embodies your brand's values and promise, while offering distinctive features that appeal to consumers.
Also consider profitability and logistical feasibility. Sales volumes don't always translate into proportional profitability. So you need to work out an economic strategy for your entire product range.
🧠 The ultimate goal is to maximize overall sales, not to sell as many units of your flagship product as possible!
This question is often asked by brands present in supermarkets: many decision-makers are reluctant to base their strategy on a flagship or loss-leader product.
To answer this question, we need to look at the company's positioning:
The central role played by the flagship product in your brand's strategy means that it has a special place in your marketing activities.
As a result, this emblematic product generally accounts for a large proportion of your budgets, at various levels:
Keep in mind that the effectiveness of FMCG advertising relies heavily on the repetition and simplicity of the message. Concentrating your budgets on a flagship product increases the impact of your campaigns, and therefore your return on investment.
The flagship product therefore also contributes to your financial strategy by increasing the return on investment of your marketing activity.
Last but not least, just like the regulator product, the promotion of the flagship product can have a stabilizing effect on sales. Brand, ad, slogan and product recognition all contribute to the "reception" of the advertising message by your target audience. This consistency encourages customer acquisition, loyalty and retention.
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As we've seen throughout this article, it's in a retailer's best interest to structure its product range around a flagship product. This plays a central role in your sales strategy, and must be supported by an intense marketing strategy. The result: an optimized assortment that promotes your brand's profitability through its distribution network.
