In eight years of Brand Footprint, we have never seen such a challenging time
Josep Montserrat Global CEO Worldpanel Division
In the eight years we have published Brand Footprint – Kantar’s comprehensive review of the most chosen FMCG brands on the planet – we have never seen such a challenging time. The outbreak of COVID-19 is reshaping businesses and economies the world over. Its effects may still be unclear, but they will certainly be lasting.
Yet FMCG brands are used to sailing in unpredictable waters. Whether through slow overall growth, political turmoil or pandemics, there are brands with tales of success that should be celebrated and learned from. And that’s exactly what we intend to do in this edition.
Since Brand Footprint was first published in 2013, we’ve built up an unrivalled picture of the choices made by global consumers, dissecting the performance of thousands of brands in order to help them grow both now and into the future. We do this by understanding the decisions shoppers make at the moment of truth, using two metrics: penetration and consumer choice. When combined, these form the basis of our unique Consumer Reach Point (CRP) measurement.
This year we have increased our scope of analysis even further. We now review over 22,900 brands in 52 countries—representing 74% of the global population and 85% of gross domestic product (GDP). We’ve seen the total number of brand choices made increase by 2.7% since 2018—now exceeding 420 billion. Our thanks, as ever, goes to our partners GfK, Intage, IRI and CTR—whose work has helped us achieve this comprehensive market coverage. I’d also like to thank Dr. Martin Bergmann of Beiersdorf AG, for lending us his time for a fascinating interview. NIVEA is one of the four brands that have grown continuously since we began producing Brand Footprint. It was wonderful to discover what has driven this success and where the brand is seeking out its next opportunities.
The story of this report is a shift in favour to the top 50 global FMCG brands, 31 of which have grown their CRPs. Even more impressively, 20 of the top 25 saw growth.
Amongst these, there are impressive stories to highlight. Coca-Cola, the most chosen brand on the planet, returned to CRP growth for the first time since 2013. Colgate, the brand with the most shoppers and second most chosen, also returned to growth—with the third largest increase of CRPs within the top 50. Meanwhile, India has become even more important for global brands. The country was the main contributor to CRP growth in 13 of the top 25 brands. Vim, for instance, gained an extra 15.7 million shoppers in 2019—with most of these coming from India. We have also seen more brands than ever being chosen over one billion times a year. Joining the club for global brands are Brooke Bond, Head & Shoulders, Kinder, Heinz an Oreo. But there are also 18 local brands which have been chosen over a billion times—16 from India and two from China (including Yili and Patanjali). Given these extraordinary circumstances, you will find this years’ Brand Footprint a shorter length. But it is still packed full of the highlights you have come to expect: the global ranking, brand success stories and, furthermore, a detailed analysis into how COVID-19 is impacting brand choice. So, read on and enjoy Brand Footprint 2020—the definitive guide to successful FMCG brands.
