Albertsons Companies, which operates 2,271 retail supermarkets and grocery stores in the United States, is rebranding its Signature Farms, Signature Care and Signature Cafe private labels under one master brand: Signature Select. Featuring a refreshed, modern logo and bold packaging, it is being launched with a new marketing campaign designed to build emotional connections with customers. The transition to is currently under way across stores including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Shaw’s, and is expected to be complete in early 2024.
“Signature Select is our flagship brand offering shoppers an incomparable assortment of quality products at an incredible value,” said Jennifer Saenz, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of the Boise, Idaho-headquartered company. “We are incredibly proud of our Signature family of brands and by bringing these sub-brands together under one name, we are building greater brand recognition, driving brand loyalty and creating customers for life.”
Signature Select is already the largest brand in the retailer’s private label portfolio boasting over 8,000 products including ice cream, pizza, fish sticks, shrimp and other frozen foods, as well as ground beef, chicken, pork, coffee, paper goods, pasta, snacks and canned vegetables.
The master brand features the modern Signature Select logo with a unified package design across its broad assortment of product categories so shoppers can easily identify the private label throughout the store.
The Signature family of brands was introduced in 2016 following the merger of Albertsons and Safeway. However, the ‘S’ branding dates back as far as the 1960s when Safeway sold products under the ‘S’ label, including frozen foods. The ‘S’ brand remained a key private label for the chain until 2012 when the company retired its namesake brand and merged products under the Safeway Kitchens, Safeway Farms, Safeway Home and Safeway Care labels, which ultimately became the Signature family of brands.
The Signature Select consolidation and rebranding follows recent updates to the company’s private label portfolio including the evolution of the O Organics brand and the redesign of Open Nature. These brand innovations are supported by a recent survey commissioned by Albertsons revealing that consumer demand for private labels continues to grow, with 93% of Americans embracing and expanding their purchases of store brands. Respondents cited price, quality and availability as the main drivers of these purchases, with a large number writing in that better taste was a factor when choosing a private label brand.
Put Your Signature On It
Meanwhile, the company has launched a promotion campaign marketing on social, online and streaming channels, as well as in print. From family cookouts, backyard brunches, summer treats and more, the creative highlights in-the-moment imagery of how Signature Select delivers convenient, affordable alternatives to national brands without sacrificing taste or quality.
“We want to celebrate the brand’s virtues of quality, taste, value and convenience,” said Brandon Brown, Albertsons’ senior vice president for own brands. “Our Signature creative showcases warm, welcoming scenes that puts the Signature Select brand at the center of life’s moments. We’re creating an emotional connection with our customer and showing how everyday occasions can have their own signature flavor and style.”
