Red Shed launches new house brand

The Warehouse has trademarked a new house brand, Red Stamp, to use across a range of its products.

The low-cost, multi-category badge will be one of several labels to emerge from a rationalisation of about 40 Warehouse "own brands".

Warehouse group corporate affairs manager Phil Jamieson said details of how Red Stamp would be used were commercially sensitive, but confirmed the company's brand re-think.

"We are in the process of rationalising and restructuring our whole house-brand hierarchy and category hierarchy ... " he said.

While that meant a "significant" reduction in the number of own brands, Jamieson ruled out a move to a single house brand. "There definitely won't be just one option."

The company has stated its strategy is to offer a choice of basic products, better products and best products - inconsistent with a single house brand. While Red Stamp has been licensed for use in a wide array of categories - from gardening tools, to heating, to apparel and beverages - it is not expected to be used universally.

Most of The Warehouse's existing brands, such as Brio for household appliances and heaters, Transonic for televisions and other electrical goods, Gascraft gas products and Maison D'Or manchester, cover just one or two product categories and evolved on an ad hoc basis.

While own brand products featured in advertisements, the company never specifically marketed its brands.

The new strategy will allow promotion of names such as Red Stamp in order to build brand loyalty among customers and improve the penetration of house brands.

Red Stamp, in particular, will feature the phrase "Double Guarantee x2", suggesting the company backing for quality despite a low cost.

One analyst said a shift to brand promotion had potential to help sales. "It depends whether it is loud - or conversion of existing brands by stealth."

But there were also risks involved in using multi-category brands, such as turning consumers of products in one category if they had a poor experience of products from another category under the same name.

A fund manager said moving to a small number of brands was "conceptually an improvement" for the company, but the strategy represented a different way of thinking.

"You'd have to try to create a profile for the company of good product at a good price, rather than offering a selection [to the customer] and saying: you choose," he said.

"I find it hard to believe someone would go to the Warehouse to buy a Warehouse branded drill."

The new brand strategy comes as chief executive Ian Morrice, appointed last year, begins to put his stamp on the company.

* The Warehouse has created a new brand, Red Stamp.

* It is the result of the rationalisation of about 40 product brands.

* Existing "own brands", such as Evantair and Cascade, emerged in a haphazard way and have never been marketed as brands.

* Red Stamp, and any others, will be promoted to drive brand loyalty and penetration.