SPECIAL SECTION: PESTICIDES: Clarifying Common Misconceptions

Getting a proper handle on whether to buy a “branded” or “generic” product requires getting beyond these two overly simplistic and misleading words. While suppliers may disagree about what are the best words to use or have terminology they prefer to describe what they do and their products, framing the discussion – and buying decisions – on a “branded vs. generic” level falls short of the mark.

Three concepts are at the heart of understanding the facts and being able to make an apples-to-apples comparison of two or more products, which at face value might appear to be the same:

1. What is in the container? If you are looking at two products that have the same active ingredient on the container and the same amount, then the assumption is that both will do the same job. That assumption is partially correct since EPA registration does verify the active ingredient and amount on the packaging.

However, any assumption that two products are the same beyond this comparison can be wrong for two reasons:

First, the active ingredient might not be of the same level of purity. (The active ingredient is the chemical or chemicals in a pesticide that deliver the desired effects.) The active ingredient used in two products might have come from the same manufacturer (the basic manufacturer that invented it). Or, the active ingredients could have come from different manufacturers in the United States or overseas. Depending upon who physically produced the active ingredient, its level of purity might not be identical.

Second, the formulations are not likely to be identical. To be usable on turf a pesticide active ingredient must first be formulated with other chemicals to lower the concentration level of the chemical compound to make application at the low rate required possible. A formulation can be a solid (dust or granular) or a liquid. Virtually all of the active ingredients used in liquid pesticides begin as solids that will not dissolve in water. To get such active ingredients into a liquid form requires dissolving them in a liquid carrier, such as in an oil-based solvent, which creates a liquid formulation that can be diluted with water to get the low rate necessary for use on turf. The active ingredient and all the chemicals it is combined with make up the pesticide formulation.

Formulations are very important. They determine the Signal Word on the label, and can affect the use rate, application directions, efficacy, residual effect, odor, easy of mixing and much more. The formulation can be made in combination with a fertilizer or other active ingredients. One formulation may also include an additive in the product that a similar formulation recommends be added before application at an extra cost, so it is important to compare label directions carefully, not just the package price.

Companies that formulate a product using a post-patent active ingredient need a marketing advantage in order to compete with the original branded product or any other post-patent competitive products. In addition to the company’s sales and service presence, two obvious marketing approaches are to improve product performance by coming up with a better formulation or try to develop a formulation that creates a significant cost advantage.

2. What comes with the container? Classifying “brand” and “generic” products is understandable since the active ingredient is usually identified with the original branded product in the minds of lawn care operators. For example, Monsanto’s Roundup Herbicide was the original brand for non-selective turf herbicides. So, other products containing, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, are considered “generic” products.

The problem with this classification is that technically every registered pesticide is a brand regardless of the active ingredient(s) it contains. In legal terms a brand is a mark, name or symbol that is recognized as standing for and representing that unique product.

In marketing, a “brand” refers to the sum of the customers’, prospective customers’ and the public’s experiences and perceptions. The company itself is a brand (McDonald’s) and so are its products (Big Mac or Happy Meals). When people are asked about a brand name, then what comes to mind is their past experiences, good or bad, as well as their dreams and emotions. The sum of these perceptions is the brand position for the company or product.

The principle of branding works the same way in marketing a pesticide. So, the brand of a particular pesticide represents more than just its active ingredient. Its brand includes the manufacturer reputation, container sizes and cost, distributor relationships, past problems or lack of problems, applicator training, technical support, special purchase programs, applicator opinions and much more.

Deciding between two pesticide brands, even if both were formulated with the same active ingredient, involves considering a range of factors. Since every pesticide product, whether the original branded product or a post-patent product, is a brand in its own right, each can or will mean something different to end users. The active ingredient(s) are a primary factor, but ultimately deciding what product to buy is a brand consideration. The products selected also impact the lawn care company’s own ability to successfully build its own brand reputation with customers and prospective customers.

3. Who made the product? Trying to make product comparisons based on the source gets confusing. A company that researches, invents and patents a new pesticide active ingredient and then brings it to market as a finished product is usually referred to as the “basic” manufacturer. Chemical compounds owned by basic manufacturers are proprietary compounds.

Any company that has a physical facility to produce pesticide active ingredients is a manufacturer. It is also possible for a company to be both the basic manufacturer – of its own proprietary pesticides – and a manufacturer of post-patent active ingredients that the company has gained legal rights to produce.

“Formulators” are suppliers that specialize in producing and marketing finished pesticide products. While it is technically true that basic manufacturers and manufacturers are also formulators – if they formulate finished products for market – a “formulator” usually denotes a company that buys active ingredient from another source.

If all this isn’t already confusing enough, it is possible for a basic manufacturer or a manufacturer to also be a formulator – if it buys active ingredient from other manufacturers in order to formulate and market products using those active ingredients either as stand-alone products or as a combination product with one of the company’s proprietary compounds.

Distributors are companies that usually serve as the marketing, sales and service arm for basic manufacturers, manufacturers and formulators. However, a distributor can also be a basic manufacturer, manufacturer or formulator.

The importance of understanding the source of a product is that it can be an indicator of the supplier’s technical expertise, resources for product support, knowledge of the market and relationship to other companies.

How important is cost? In a Lawn & Landscape February 2004 study, 64 percent of lawn care operators said cost most influenced their peticide purchase decisions, followed by 56 percent for efficacy, 36 percent for safety and 24 percent for dealer location.

In December 2004 Lawn & Landscape research of residential lawn care customers, 59 percent said the top improvement their lawn care company could make would be to, “Do what they said they were going to do.” Second would be to “come on time” (45 percent) and third would be to “lower prices” 36 percent).