P&G Lures Brits With Custom Chips (Er, Crisps)

Big brand names are waging a continuing battle against store brands. While they may find it difficult to compete on price, brand marketers are using their own kind of workarounds by creating unique and exclusive versions of their products and then selling them through retail partners.

As we've reported, Kleenex tested unique packaging last summer in Target stores and this year has rolled out "fruit boxes" to set its tissues apart this summer. P&G is also creating exclusive versions of its branded products in the hope that they will give consumers reasons to stay loyal rather than switch to store brands. A recent example is the designer diapers P&G created for Target stores.

Now P&G is aggressively using its Pringles brand of potato crisps as a platform for customization.

P&G worked directly with Tesco, the UK's largest grocery store chain, to design Great British Flavours, a line of Pringles that will be sold exclusively at Tesco stores. Flavors in the line include curry, kebab, sea salt & black pepper, and smokey bacon.

This isn't the first time Pringles has been "versioned" for retail partners. P&G created exclusive flavors for another supermarket in the UK, Morrisons, as well as for Wal-Mart and Kroger in the U.S. More customized flavor versions are likely on the way as P&G attempts to protect the billion-dollar Pringles brand.

P&G UK spokeswoman Claire Forsyth-Brown tells the Cincinnati Business Courier that the reason for the Pringles Tesco partnership is to respond to "consumer preferences," not store brands. "We thought this was a great way to bring new news to the category, because we know consumers like to try new things."

Tesco, meanwhile, is excited about its new original food item: the lasagne sandwich. With London just voted as having the worst food in Europe in an online poll, we're not sure how much Tesco's latest offering is going to change that perception.