Kantar Worldpanel just recently launched their 2015 Brand Footprint ranking, the study reveals how consumers around the world today are buying FMCG brands, as well as highlighting the opportunities that remain for brands to increase their footprint.
For FMCG, brand choices were dominated by local players in terms of availability and CRPs (Consumer Reach Points). Emerging markets accounted for 82% of FMCG growth in 2015. The study included 9,000 local brands, and the findings show that these nimble local players are proving better at exploiting growth opportunities than the 5,700 global brands also included.
This is particularly apparent in the food and beverage category, which probably has a lot to do with local brands catering to local tastes. In large emerging markets like China, India and Indonesia, many consumers see local brands not only “familiar” but also “more affordable” and “widely available”. The same is also true if we look at the top 5 brands here at home, 4 / 5 are Irish:
Top 5 Brands in Ireland 2015
1. Avonmore
2. Brennans
3. Denny
4. Knorr
5. Jacobs
Local brand growth can be attributed to three key drivers:
• The country that they operate in is their world leading to better concentration on fuller regional distribution.
• Where global brands are better suited to modern trade, local brands fare better with traditional trade and will therefore flourish in emerging regions.
• Local brands fill the ‘affordability gap,’ bringing products to consumers who would otherwise be unable to buy them.
How can brand success be achieved?
New Occasions: Brands can create new occasions based on consumer insight. Dettol identified that mums now worry about residual germs as washing detergents encourage turning your machine to 30 degrees. Subsequent to this, they launched a Dettol Laundry Sanitizer; the results – a +16% rise in CRP.
More Demographics: Brands which look beyond tapping into gender, age, region and extending that to include more about how consumers live their lives. e.g. Goodfellas attracting almost 45K new shoppers after launching their gluten free pizza.
More Geographies: Starbucks recently launched their in-home range of products which combines new occasions and new geographies. The impact on brand was an increase in penetration of 33% in the US.
New Categories: With health high on consumers agenda, smaller brands have been leading the way in creating a new category around health and well-being. Brands like Bounce and Meridian are reaping the benefits of being first to market.
More Categories: Brands’ can capitalise by expanding into categories that are in growth. The likes of Innocent moving in on categories like Coconut Water and McCain moving from frozen chips into fresh chips in France.
