Penetration power: the path to brand growth

It’s a fact that to be chosen more often, more people must first choose you. And in Latin America, 86% of the FMCG brands that grew their footprint in 2024 did so by building their buyer base.

Similar to the 50:50 equation, our global Brand Footprint data shows us that on average half of all brands manage to expand their penetration in any given year. A strategic focus on boosting reach therefore remains the most crucial driver of a brand’s growth.

This could be accomplished by diversifying the product portfolio, targeting new occasions, entering new markets, or conquering white spaces, for instance.

What’s important is that the principle is consistent regardless of a brand’s size. In Latam, large and super brands are increasing their penetration the most – however only smaller brands are also managing to sustain purchase frequency.

The bar has been raised

Over the years, it has become more difficult to use penetration as a lever to build brand footprint. From 2013 to 2019, the brands that grew their CRPs gained an average of 1.2 penetration points (pp). Over the past five years, however, this average has increased to 1.6pp.

The Latin American brands that attracted the most new buyers this year are almost all different from those in last year’s Top 10. The penetration gains achieved are also smaller: Pepsi was the leader in last year’s report, with a rise of 6.4pp, twice the 3.2pp increase earned by this year’s champion, Dove.

Omnichannel shopping behaviour requires brands to have a strong presence across multiple channels, to reach the maximum number of buyers. Latam shoppers are visiting more channels than ever in their quest to find the best-value options — averaging nearly 10 different channels visited per year, according to Worldpanel by Numerator’s Consumer Insights 2025 data.

This challenging growth environment makes it more important than ever to uncover in-depth knowledge about who your non-buyers are, and why they don’t currently purchase your products in addition to a strategy that drives repeat purchasing among those that do. Just because a buyer purchases your brand today, doesn’t mean they’ll do so again.

In our Brand Stories chapter, you can read about how a number of winning Latam brands have overcome the obstacles to growing their buyer base and achieving penetration-led growth.