This weekend, pull out your newspaper's Sunday circulars and look closely at the wide range of advertised grocery items. Do any products "wow" you, based on their image alone? Is your eye drawn to the colorful photo of that brand-name box of macaroni and cheese? Does that jar of national brand pears look like it was vacuum-sealed at the peak of freshness? And what about that store brand soda? It looks like any other 2-liter bottle, except that it's being advertised under a special offer.

'If retailers want their private label products to be seen as something more than generic goods, they need to create compelling advertising visuals.'

When I see the first two products, their slick photos practically leap off the page. However, I can't say the same about the grainy, amateur picture of the soda bottle. Unfortunately, many store brands suffer from the same dilemma.

Major CPG brands might have enormous marketing budgets, but that should not discourage retailers from showcasing their store brand products. If retailers want their private label products to be seen as something more than generic goods, they need to create compelling advertising visuals. That photo of the store brand 2-liter soda bottle in the Sunday circular has to be slick enough to grab the consumer's attention.

Store brands need strong retail support throughout the supply chain to enhance sales. Nothing makes brand managers smile more than hearing that pictures of their products are being ripped out of circulars and brought to the store to remind the consumer to make a specific purchase. It's not just about packaging — it's also about how the products are captured to get the consumer to the right aisle.

Professional, high-quality imagery also can help store brands compete on the shelf. Let's say Kraft goes to a major grocer to pitch a planogram for the pasta aisle. All the pasta products are showcased in Kraft's planogram, but the store brand is given an empty space simply because it doesn't have photography. As a result, the store brand ends up not having prime shelf placement — within its own store.

In the past, retailers didn't want to spend money on high-quality images for their store brand lines because doing so would eradicate the margins on these products. But they need to remember that the costs for securing these images are mitigated by improved sales at the register. Better pictures mean more sales.

Moreover, high-quality images are needed everywhere, not just in the Sunday circular. CPG brands are putting more and more effort into creating compelling digital circulars, advertising networks, online shopping venues and mobile applications. Retailers must keep pace with the changes happening in the marketplace in relation to their own private label items. They need to "wow" consumers on all platforms, print and digital. Otherwise, they're giving money away to the competition.

It makes fiscal sense for retailers to find companies that can help them deliver higher-quality images of their store brand products, which in turn, can lead to higher sales. If you're using circulars to reach consumers, then shouldn't you incorporate the best images to sell your products? Fortunately, new imaging systems are available to put brand owners in better control of the labels and images they are producing. Now, more than ever, private brands truly can compete with the big guys. It's a cosmetic feature that will help sell more cosmetics — not to mention more lemon-lime soda. PGSB

Thomas Parkinson is headMaster of Skokie, Ill.-based itemMaster, a subsidiary of Ahold USA that serves as an open exchange for manufacturer-supplied product images and comprehensive digital product data. He also is chief technical officer and cofounder of online grocery retailer Peapod. You may reach him at tparkinson@itemmaster.com.