And now, the fastest growing global brands in their respective categories
Vim is the only other Top 50 most chosen global brand (alongside Dove) to have seen growth in every edition of Brand Footprint. In fact, the brand saw both the biggest CRP gain (+1.4bn) and shoppers gain (+137m) of any FMCG brand.
This meant the brand saw the number of times it was chosen triple between 2021 and 2011, whilst gaining almost 10% penetration-points globally.
Vim has seen a similar growth path to that of its compatriot Dove, with frequency also growing over the decade alongside the shopper growth. Again, the significant difference is the level of change for both metrics and their contribution to the brand’s growth. Almost identically to Dove, Vim achieved 67% of its CRP growth through gaining more shoppers and 33% from being bought more often.
Vim’s success has come through the introduction of new formats and its focus on emerging markets. Whilst it’s particularly strong in Southern Asia, where Vim is best known as a dishwashing brand, the brand also has a robust footprint in Vietnam, Argentina and Brazil, where the brand is best known for its bleach product. Additionally, Brazil was a completely new market for the brand within the last decade as it looked to increase its global presence.
For Indian consumers, the Vim Bar is still the preferred format, but liquid variants have also gained momentum over the decade.
Part of its success in this market was down to more homes in rural areas getting a Liquefied Petroleum Gas connection for cooking through a Central Government scheme called Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, meaning people stopped using a wood fired oven. This meant there was not as much ash available for cleaning utensils (which was previously used as cleaning product once mixed with water). Additionally, dishes used for cooking with gas could be cleaned using a dishwashing product that was not as abrasive as ash. Vim used this opportunity to drive growth for their dishwashing bars.
More recently the brand launched the #VimWhatAPlayer campaign that aimed to break gender stereotypes around dishwashing. Going by the COVID-led impetus of male participation in household chores, the brand took it as an opportunity to break the age-old stereotype around dish-washing with this campaign.
The campaign communicated the functional benefits of the product around making the daily chore easier. The brand collaborated with local cricketer Virender Sehwag for the campaign, which was aired throughout the IPL season.
In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, where the brand is bought by 93% of all households, the brand partnered with the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs to launch ‘Vim DiviyataDisne’—an initiative seeking to economically empower Sri Lankan women in pursuit of a more balanced entrepreneurial workforce.
In Argentina, Vim’s Lavandinas Gel variant overtook its liquid format back in 2016, entering 400,000 new households that year.
The gel – a concentrated product that seeps into the sponge – achieved the greatest growth in penetration in homes with young housewives. With a disinfectant message remaining at its core, the versatility of Vim’s bleach gel means it can function as a replacement for other cleaners while maintaining the practicality of cleaning smaller, hard-to-reach surfaces.
More recently in Vietnam, Vim proactively diversified its product portfolio to map with different consumer demands on specific cleaning purposes, launching across multiple formats such as liquid, gel, spray, and tablet forms.
Vim also worked on its brand image by being a pioneer in various movements / non-government programs to educate Vietnamese people on the important role of health protection in order to against illnesses caused by bacteria, epidemics, environmental pollution, and water pollution.
All these initiatives together have driven the brand’s consistently strong growth over the decade, propelling the brand 30 places up the rankings to be the 11th most chosen global brand in 2021, and very likely to break into the Top 10 in the coming years.
Over the last decade, Lay’s has seen its CRPs grow almost every year, with 2016 being the only exception to an outstanding expansion of its consumer reach.
Lay’s was chosen 2.9bn times in 2021 – and over 4bn if we consider all the local names (Walkers, Sabritas, Margarita, Chipsy). This is up from 1.9bn in 2011, an increase of 990m (+51%), the second biggest increase we have seen in the decade across the whole of FMCG and the biggest of any salty snack brand.
This growing footprint results from a regular development of Lay’s buyers base. The brand has featured regularly in Brand Footprint amongst the top 10 best recruiters, adding more than 110m (+38%) shoppers over these last 10 years, the third biggest global shopper gain.
The penetration of Lay’s has grown by almost 5 points, and Lay’s is now purchased by 32.3% of Households globally.
Even though its homeland, the USA, still represents a huge portion of its contact points with consumers (27.4% in 2021), Lay’s has significantly expanded across geographies over the years, entering more markets recently, like Brazil and Italy in 2014.
As a key ingredient to its local successes, Lay’s has constantly been involving its consumer in developing and choosing the next trendy flavours. Since its first launch in 2012 in the United States, the “Do Us A Flavor” campaign and its successors allow consumers to submit their flavour idea through a contest, and to vote for their favourite one.
Developing flavours tapping into local consumers’ preference is the brand’s signature, and still contributes to Lay’s growth, as this year in Germany with the Lay’s Iconic range, which included “Pizza Hut”, “KFC” and “Subway” variants and contributed an additional +1% penetration-point to the brand.
Across the years the brand has also used a mix of traditional push marketing (examples include celebrity endorsement by footballer Lionel Messi in TV, outdoor, digital, in-store and on-pack advertising in time with events such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup), to ‘pull’ marketing through a global crowd-sourcing campaign to create new flavours.
In 2017, innovation was instrumental to Lay’s success in Indonesia. New flavour launches – such as Fried Chicken, Spicy Lobster, Pepper & Lime, and Steak – added five million new shoppers, and its “Life Needs Flavour” campaign encouraged sharing moments. An online campaign for a special “smile pack” offered shoppers prizes in return for social media selfies.
India is always a key market to succeed in for global brands, given the size of its population. On average, Lay’s has been growing its footprint in India by +16% over the past 10 years.
2021 is no exception, with a steady growth of +28% after a difficult 2020. Lay’s is reviving on both penetration & frequency of purchase, crossing pre-covid penetration. The brand has been heavily communicating targeting in-home occasions with their campaign “Ghar Par Lays, Always”, (Lay’s At Home, Always!) launching dedicated bigger packs for each of the In-Home consumption (WAH! For Work at Home, etc…)
Globally, Lay’s CRP growth has followed the same slightly better trend in pandemic times compared to pre-Covid level (+4% on average in 2012-2019 vs +5% in 2020-2021), most likely benefiting from the rise of In-Home snacking occasions. However, with 16.5% penetration in total India and 27% in Urban India, Lay’s still has plenty more room for growth.
Colgate is purchased by more shoppers than any other FMCG brand, and the only brand with a global penetration over 50%.
In 2021, 708m shoppers bought a Colgate item, up from 638m ten years ago, meaning an increase of 70m shoppers over the last decade.
This shopper growth has led to CRPs moving from 3.7bn in 2011 to over 4.2bn in 2021 – an increase of over 500m (+13.4%), more than any other global oral care brand.
Whilst the shopper growth has slowed in more recent years, in both 2014 and 2015 Colgate saw the biggest global penetration gain of any brand.
Colgate is purchased by over half of the population in 24 markets, and by over 75% of the population in 12 of those markets – it’s a staple of homes in countries around the world.
Toothpaste drives Colgate’s dominance, but Toothbrushes and Mouthwash contribute significantly. On average the Toothbrush penetration is ~40% of the Toothpaste penetration per market, and Mouthwash is around ~10% on average.
Innovation is crucial to Colgate’s brand performance, with launches across the decade including Colgate Total Pro Gum Health and Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief mouthwashes, and the Colgate 360° battery toothbrush.
In 2015, Colgate capitalised on the rise of affluence and personal hygiene in India when it launched Oral Health Care Month. Built on the finding that 47% of India’s population had never visited a dentist, Colgate provided free dental check-ups, an offer taken up by 4.9 million consumers.
Colgate also introduced more technology and innovation to the market this year, including its power toothbrushes, which come with USB chargers and nice simple cases.
Even with this world-leading brand penetration, Colgate has more potential for expansion. In Mainland China, Colgate can win an additional 40m households by reaching its highest observed penetration of the last 10 years.
In 2012, Colgate launched Optic White with an advertising campaign featuring actress Solenn Heussaff, and this boosted awareness and sales. The use of toothpaste here is becoming more frequent, and consumers are beginning to look for extra value such as whitening and sensitive variations.
This task will be tough in an exceptionally competitive market place – where shoppers are premiumizing beyond the ‘mass’ tiers and have adopted brands serving very specific oral health factors. However, shoppers are willing to pay more for product benefits like these –currently the unit price for Sensodyne from GSK is five times higher than for mainstream Colgate toothpaste.
But this simple exercise in headroom quantification shows that Colgate has not yet reached its true potential.
Oreo certainly lived up to its positing as ‘The world’s favourite cookie’ with one of the strongest performances of any FMCG brand in the last decade, growing how often it was chosen by consumers by almost 400m (+48%) since 2011.
Its growth was solely driven by its recruitment of shoppers, with 108m more buying the brand in 2021 compared to the very first edition of Brand Footprint – the 4th biggest global increase. This performance has seen the brand often appearing in the top performing brands in terms of shopper recruitment, and it in fact saw the biggest global penetration gain of any brand in 2013.
This sensational performance over the years comes despite seeing a small decline in 2015 and 2016, after which it has seen five years of consecutive growth.
One of Oreo’s key strengths is its ability and willingness to localise its products. From blueberry ice-cream flavour in Indonesia to banana and dulce de leche in Argentina, the brand is not afraid of adapting the recipe in order to gain buyers.
A great success for Oreo has been in Mainland China, where the brand has become the number one biscuit and sits 18th in the Chinese FMCG ranking – a list dominated by local brands. Research with Chinese consumers led the brand to change its formula to make the product less sweet and introduce Mini Oreo packs to position the biscuit as a more affordable snack. This market is now the second biggest for Oreo after the US.
This approach to product innovation has also been reflected in its marketing. Its adaptable and real-time digital campaigns, such as the ‘You Can Still Dunk in The Dark’ tweet executed during the black-out at the 2013 Super Bowl, have helped the cream-filled sandwich biscuit to become an iconic brand around the world.
Understanding that people don’t want to skimp on taste, Oreo also launched mini options that allow shoppers to indulge themselves with a smaller portion, such as Oreo Thins. This helped drive penetration by tapping into new usage occasions but also recruiting shoppers who wanted smaller amounts, or maybe didn't want so many calories.
Oreo is not just a brand to be enjoyed at-home either, with 1/3 of brand choices made for consumption outside of the home. The brand sits 4th in our out-of-home most chosen snacking brands and over the last five years has seen 20% growth from these occasions as well.
Despite having the 8th highest global penetration of any brand (27.9%), the brand still has opportunities across all regions. In Asia where penetration is 22.6%, penetration is under 15% in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and India. Whilst in Europe where penetration is slightly higher at 24.1% it is comparatively low in Sweden, France and Italy.
Over the past 10 years, Sunsilk has achieved an average of 5% CRP growth. This consistency has only been interrupted by the pandemic. From 2013 to 2019 Sunsilk grew every year – but with the pandemic shifting consumer behaviour and beauty routines the category suffered, and Sunsilk suffered a blip in 2020. However, the momentum was quickly regained in 2021 and, after learning from this first difficult year, Sunsilk returned to CRP growth.
This performance meant that over the decade the brand gained 765 million CRPs (+62% vs 2011), to be chosen just shy of 2 billion times in 2021.
Winning in the Hair Care category is no easy task. Hair Care is one of the most competitive and fragmented beauty categories. Dozens of global and local mass brands compete for shelf space and mental availability, which means being relevant in this dynamic category means going much further than pure functionality. To become the fastest growth brand of the decade in such a competitive category, Sunsilk has demonstrated impressive consistency of buyer growth to build real brand momentum.
Even through the pandemic, Sunsilk managed to consistently increase its buyer base. COVID-19 impacted frequency of purchase for the brand, but not shopper numbers. In fact, shopper numbers have grown consistency through the decade - a fantastic achievement to continually top up the ‘leaky bucket’ (that all brands experience) and build sustainable growth, resulting in an additional 85 million global shoppers.
Sunsilk benefits from its demographic positioning - younger consumers in Latin American and Asian markets are a stronghold for the brand, and a growing cohort of the global population. But this is a demanding cohort with high expectations, looking for relevant products to meet multiple needs. To win, brands must demonstrate strong appeal and purpose delivered with a consistent strategy. These have been the ingredients for Sunsilk’s recipe for success.
Behind the brand is a strong message of providing girls with the confidence to achieve their dreams, a confidence that comes from hair that feels and looks good (functional benefit), while also challenging social norms and established models (strong purpose).
Sunsilk was one the first hair care brands to innovate and promote products for curly and textured hair. The Seda Boom range in Brazil holds an inclusion message strongly connected to local culture and beliefs. This local relevancy has been achieved despite being a mass brand with a footprint in over 50 markets. Its most successful ranges are in fact co-created with local beauty influencers, such as the brand ambassador Gabi Oliveira in Brazil. Its Hijab line, a success in markets such as Indonesia, is another key example of inclusion, local relevancy and consumer-centred approach, not by chance targeted at the fastest growing groups.
Sunsilk is certainly an inspiration in the category and its reach possibilities are far from over, with lots of headroom to grow in markets where over 60% of the population is not yet a brand buyer, such as Colombia, India, and Malaysia. Surely there is space for a young, dynamic, and affordable brand like Sunsilk to continue to grow.
Nivea is a definite success story from the last decade. Despite suffering in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19 – like many brands in the Health & Beauty sector – prior to this the brand saw eight years of consecutive growth, growing by 22% from 2011 to 2019.
Regardless of the brand seeing decline in 2020 and 2021, the brand added an incredible 127m CRPs across the decade to make it the fastest growing skin moisturising brand. Nivea is now the 29th most chosen FMCG brand and has risen 15 places since our premier Brand Footprint.
This extraordinary growth has come through the brand increasing shoppers, which it did in nine of the ten years, to see its buyer base increase from 246m to 294m – an increase of 20%.
What is remarkable about the eight years of continuous growth was the consistency is gains made year-after-year, with Nivea gaining 6.75m shoppers per year on average up to 2019. It’s also promising that the brand gained 4.4m shoppers in 2021, despite global lockdowns still negatively impacting the sector during that period.
This growth means the brand is present in almost one in every four houses (24%) across the world, whilst in both Europe and Latin America it is bought by every second household with 51% penetration in both regions.
Such strong presence means the brand is the most chosen Health & Beauty brand in Europe and sits in sixth position in Latin America.
Nivea was the inventor of contemporary skin care, more than 110 years ago. The brand has helped shaped the entire skin and personal care category ever since.
When we spoke to Nivea in early 2020 about their long-term continued success, they had this to say: “The brand’s success is built on two strategic pillars: consistency and innovation. We have a very strong core in skin care, which originates from our Nivea Crème product. Based on this strong fundamental, we’ve been able to extend into new categories and innovate in existing categories. With an in-depth understanding of the skin and compelling
consumer insight, NIVEA has the ability to develop disruptive innovations.”
Whilst Nivea is perhaps best known for its Skin Moisturising products, its growth across the years has come from its whole portfolio with Deodorants, Body Wash and Suncare becoming key ingredients to the brand’s success too.
Outside of innovation and expanding into new categories and markets, there were two completely different types of campaign that really stood out in the last decade, both from Brazil.
The first was a campaign to help keep kids safe on the beach. Nivea magazine ads came complete with a tear-out GPS bracelet which connected to a smartphone app and triggered an alarm if children wandered beyond a set distance.
Then Nivea launched its award-winning UV protection campaign, which helped children keep safe from the sun on the beach.
Using UV-sensitive dolls to show parents and children how important it is to apply sunblock. The dolls went red when exposed to too much sun, illustrating the danger of UV rays, even at times when the average consumer might not think that an SPF cream was needed.
Campaigns like this have clearly paid off. Brazil is now Nivea’s second biggest CRP market (after Germany) and where the brand has seen ten years of continuous growth even in the difficult COVID years.
Finding the right balance between winning in established markets and gaining traction in new territories is always a difficult task. Despite the success in markets like Brazil, the more recent decline has come from Europe, in particular Germany and Great Britain. If Nivea can recover in these markets then we are sure it will return to the consistent growth it saw previously.
Downy started the decade stronger than any other Top 50 brand, growing its reach by 63% from 2011 to 2015. In this time it was the fastest growing global brand in back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014.
Downy has had more of a mixed performance since then with both growth and decline. Over the whole ten years it has grown its CRP by 42% or increased the numbers of times it was chosen by 383m, making it the fastest growing Fabric care brand.
The brands long-term performance is fuelled by gains in shoppers, which increased in all ten years. When the brand has declined, it has done so through shoppers buying the brand less often over the course of a year. This is most evident in the last two years where the brand has lost almost two buying occasions per shopper across the globe.
This is partly due to the category in which it operates, with Fabric Conditioners being seen as more of a discretionary category at just over 60% global penetration, compared to Fabric Detergents which are bought by almost 95% of global households. This in turn meant that during the pandemic, the purchase frequency of the whole category fell, and it has done so most acutely in South-East Asia which are high frequency markets and key to the success of Downy.
The good news is with lockdowns largely over, we are sure business as usual will return to the brand which has seen some of the biggest growth figures in Brand Footprint history. Let’s look back to see what the brand did previously to achieve these record-breaking results.
In 2013 Downy deployed strategies that engaged with consumers all over the world, and appealed to multiple senses. These included new products such as Downy Infusions, partnering with other brands – to launch Tide with a touch of Downy, for instance – and innovative marketing campaigns such as a series of live music events in the US.
Downy’s best performance that year came in Indonesia where the brand launched its own online interactive drama series called ‘The Scent of Passion’.
Downy also gave a masterclass in individuality by encouraging shoppers to create a ‘personalised’ scent by combining two different Downy products, promoting the idea through a website with a ‘Fortune Smeller’ who revealed consumers’ personal fragrance.
Downy also positioned its products as personal scents for women to be worn as part of a stylish outfit. It furthered this link with fashion through celebrity endorsements, media partnerships and digital campaigns which engaged local consumers in conversation.
The following year in 2014, building on its multi-sensory campaign, Downy used a Game of Thrones theme encouraging dual usage such as Downy fabric conditioner with Tide laundry.
2014 also saw the launch of the ‘Rip your clothes on’ commercial during the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. The importance of softness and comfort was further promoted with the #Hugmore video and consumers were invited to design the next Downy Simple Pleasure scent.
In 2015, growth was largely fuelled by the Asian markets where it continued to expand by encouraging an extra product to become a core part of the laundry cycle. For example, the Timeless Collection was launched in Asia, reaching into occasions long confined to the personal care space such as perfumes.
Each product in the range was designed by famous fashion houses to emulate the scent of iconic movie stars. Using the tagline “Do men notice their women?” the brand drew a ground-breaking but convincing connection between a woman’s laundry scent and her personal style and allure.
Following a similar strategy aimed at families, Downy extended its Infusions line with a Sweet Dreams collection. The new collection uses the tagline ‘Tuck in, Turn off’ during Sleep Awareness Week. A new category, which added to consumers’ laundry repertoire, invited shoppers to enjoy the benefits of calming scents on their bed linen. A good night’s sleep, said Downy, starts in the laundry room.
After a shaky start to the decade, pasta brand Barilla saw six years of consecutive growth and it finished being chosen 114m more times in 2021 than it did in 2011.
During that time the brand moved from having 130m shoppers in 2012 to over 170m shoppers in 2021 – a growth of over 30%.
Although the brand saw a decline again in 2021, this is the bounce-back effect of having seen double-digit growth in 2020, as most of our out-of-home eating moved in-home and long-life staples such as pasta benefitted.
The number of CRPs the brand had in 2021 was in-line with where the brand would have ended up if it had remained on the same growth trajectory as the previous half-decade.
These incredible numbers have made it the fastest growing pasta brand in the world, and the second most penetrated brand in its home market Italy (second only to Mulino Bianco – another brand from the Barilla Group).
The brand is particularly strong in Europe, with 35% of households buying the brand, and alongside the US these regions accounted for 95% of its CRPs, making winning here imperative for the brand’s success. And that’s exactly what it did.
In 2015, the year the brand saw its strongest growth, Barilla showed that even large multinationals can behave like a convincing local brand.
Provenance and quality reign in France, so the brand launched its first line of organic pasta. Miloud Benahouda, Barilla’s VP for Western Europe, stated that in five years’ time this range could account for 10% of total sales.
Acting on evidence that American consumers are willing to pay more for certain premium attributes such as whole grain, added nutrients and convenience, Barilla took steps to grow its margins and attract new demographics in the US. Nationwide, the Barilla Pronto range – prepared in one pan and ready in 10 minutes – was introduced last year.
In Chicago, Barilla teamed up with online grocer, Peapod, to launch pasta meal kits
delivered direct to door. These campaigns saw the brand’s CRPs grow faster here than it did globally.
Barilla also introduced gluten-free options that same year, making the brand and category available to a whole group which would not previously have considered it.
As already stated, Europe – in particularly Italy, France and Germany – and the US are key for the brand. Continuing to gain shoppers across these four markets will go a long way to keeping the brand seeing the stunning growth it already has.
However, with penetration of 8.2% in Latin America and just 0.2% in Asia, the brand’s biggest opportunity could be to increase its presence in more markets. Maintaining performance in the core markets alongside winning over new shoppers in new markets could create a real step-change in growth for the brand in the decade ahead.
