Take Advantage of the Growing Opportunities in Microbranding

Jody Sawyer

From microbrews to specialty foods, microbrands are skyrocketing and looking for unique ways to market and sell their products and services.

But just what is a microbrand? How do these niche brands differ from traditional brands? What’s the market size and growth rate for this new brand category? Why are traditional brands concerned about the success of microbrands? Why should your company be paying attention to this rapidly growing new brand category?

In “Micro-Branding Case Study,” on Thursday, October 24^th at 10:00am, presenter Jody Sawyer, Market Development Manager at FLEXcon (Booth 8024), will examine the opportunities in this expanding market.

Microbrands promote their products online, on social media, locally, regionally, and at sampling events. Gaining customers with digital advertising and eschewing conventional retailers and marketers, they’ve been viewed as anomalies shaking up small segments of retail. The fact is, the growth of microbrands—or direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands—represents a profound shift in the consumer-goods sector.

According to analysis from IRI-BCG, in 2017 microbrands within the CPG industry continued to take market share from their midsize and large rivals. While the revenues of large CPG companies remained roughly flat, with only 0.2% year-on-year growth, small companies grew by approximately 2.3%. In absolute terms, the growth is significant. Between 2012 and 2017, small players grabbed approximately $15 billion in sales from their larger counterparts.

The chart below from PHD Global Business puts into perspective the proliferation of microbrands within the consumer goods industry. While the top 25 companies still have 45% of category value, they are registering growth of only 3%. By contrast, microbrands represent 97% of category growth globally.

This session will feature first-hand interviews with several microbrands. Attendees will learn about these brand stories and what they need from the print industry. Learn how a local Texas "Shark Tank" entrepreneur is growing her micro-brand with self-adhesive labels and digital print technology!

“You’ll walk away with from this session with a better understanding of the opportunity that microbrands present for your business and ways your team can engage with them and help them with graphic solutions that will align and amplify their online, digital ecommerce strategies,” says Sawyer. “Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about this growing industry. It’s one that doesn’t understand what print can offer and microbrands need your team to show them what’s possible.”