Colgate leads Kantar's brand footprint ranking in Asia

The research behind the ranking covers 63 per cent of the global population: a total of 956 million households across 35 countries, and 68 per cent of the global GDP, the firm claims. The study examined 200 FMCG categories across beverages, food, health and beauty, homecare, alcoholic drinks, confectionery, razors and blades and nappies. It measured penetration (how many households buy a brand) and how often, representing findings in ‘consumer reach points’.

At a country level, Thailand has the world's fastest growth in consumer reach points, increasing 9 per cent. The primary driver was the beverage category, which recorded a 14 per cent rise.

China, which has grown its consumer reach points 7 per cent, remains among the world’s fastest growing countries. However the speed of its growth has dramatically decelerated as its economy slows, leading consumers to become savvier and more price-conscious.

Globally, Coca-Cola remains the top ranked brand, displaying 2 per cent growth in consumer reach points, followed by Colgate, which registered a 3 per cent increase.

Local brands are growing almost twice as fast as global brands, and local brands continue to account for the majority of shoppers’ purchase decisions (60 per cent). This is the case across all regions but particularly in Asia, where local brands hold 69 per cent of the total consumer reach points achieved.

Procter & Gamble’s Downy fabric softener showed tremendous growth in Asia, growing its consumer reach points 40 per cent. Its exceptional performance in Indonesia was helped by the launch of its own online interactive drama series called ‘The Scent of Passion’, according to Kantar.

Oreo, up 12 per cent, grew in every Asian market except Vietnam and Taiwan. Other fast climbers were Sunlight (23 per cent), Yakult (19 per cent), Vim (15 per cent), lndonesian confectionery brand Kopiko and South Korean confectionery brand Orion.

Kantar made special mention of Indonesia in the Asian context. With GDP growth of 5.6 per cent year-on-year, as well as a rapidly enlarging population, Indonesia’s economy is expected to surpass that of Germany and the UK by 2030—bringing 80 million new consumers into the FMCG market. The country’s demand for premium FMCG products is on the rise. Premium chocolate, mouthwash, baby shampoo, facial care, liquid soap and cheese brands all captured a larger share of the market than they did last year. In fact, 60 per cent of shampoo is now sold at a premium, including Dove and Pantene.

In addition, more than half the categories have seen consumers in Indonesia upsize their FMCG packs. This is delivering volume growth across shampoo, ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee and liquid milk. The purchase of smaller formats including sachets is declining.

Top 10 global brand footprint ranking (Source: Kantar)