Asda could be poised to rebrand its budget own-label range as 'Smart Choice'.

Last month, it registered the trademark for potential use in food and drink categories as well as non-food, prompting speculation that it may be planning to replace Smart Price as it looks to increase its focus on quality as well as price.

"Rebranding from Smart Price to 'Smart Choice' would widen the appeal to a more upmarket demographic, and it resonates nicely with the 'Chosen By You' range," said Gemma Lovelock, UK MD at TLC Marketing Worldwide.

"The emphasis would shift slightly and subtly from price to quality," she said. "It would be a smart move by Asda and would leverage the brand appeal with a more sophisticated proposition."

Koen de Jong, founding director of International Private Label Consult, agreed. "This would be a clever move," he said.

"Smart Choice implicitly refers to the quality of the product. The consumers already know the value range is the cheapest product on display. Making them feel that choosing the value brand makes them smart shoppers is a clever way of navigating consumers in their decision-making."

The Smart Price range was launched in 2000 and its 400 lines cover almost every category in food and non-food.

Asda relaunched its standard range as 'Chosen By You' last year after CEO Andy Clarke publicly questioned the quality of its own-label offer.

An Asda spokeswoman refused to confirm its future plans for Smart Price.

Read more
Saturday Essay: You don’t have to be cheap to offer value (9 April 2011)
Own-label awards shortlist biggest ever with 50 categories (2 April 2011)
Our food’s not good enough, says Asda boss Clarke (18 August 2010)

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