Coca-Cola is world's top FMCG brand

19 May 2015
LONDON: Coca-Cola has retained its position as the world’s most popular FMCG brand, although the beverage faces a growing challenge from some household goods, according to new global rankings from Kantar Worldpanel.
The research firm’s latest Brand Footprint study of the 50 most chosen global FMCG brands said Coca-Cola remained the number one brand for the third year running.
It achieved the report’s highest number of Consumer Reach Points (CRPs), a metric that measures brand penetration and buying frequency, based on 250bn shopping decisions made by consumers in 35 countries.
However, second-placed Colgate was the only brand bought by over half (64.6%) of global households, after gaining 19m new shoppers last year, and its market penetration far outmatched that of Coca-Cola (43.3%).
Indian shoppers accounted for at least half of the toothpaste’s new buyers, with the brand entering 86% of households in the country.
Another winner identified in the report was Dove, Unilever’s personal care brand, which entered the top ten for the first time to take ninth place after growing its CRPs by 6% and adding 14m new shoppers around the world.
P&G’s fabric softener brand Downy (ranked 14th) was the top riser for the second consecutive year, after increasing its CRPs by 23%, while the other top five fastest-growing brands included Vim, Sunsilk, Doritos and Yakult.
Kantar also pointed out a number of “brands to watch”, which were ranked outside its top 50 but had been increasing their CRPs at a rapid rate.
These included cleaning product Dettol, which increased its CRPs by 11%, dental brand Oral-B (CRPs up 9%) and snack brand Pringles (up 7%).
Commenting on the findings to CNBC, Kantar Worldpanel director Alison Martin said brands could improve their reach by spreading their availability around the world and by using effective communications.
“You have to make sure you’re mentally in somebody’s mind through communication, through digital strategies and make sure that you’re physically available on the shelves,” she said.
Interestingly, while the global top 10 rankings included a diverse range of FMCG brands, only food and drink brands featured in the top 10 in the UK.
What’s more, British consumers revealed a strong preference for home-grown brands, with only Coca-Cola making it into the UK top ten (at ninth) from the global top 10.
Four of the top five brands in the UK were British and, as last year, Warburtons remained the nation’s favourite, followed by Heinz, McVitie’s, Hovis and Kingsmill.
Data sourced from Kantar Worldpanel; additional content by Warc staff