Following the oral care brand in the Kantar Worldpanel Brand Footprint Ranking were Lifebuoy, Nescafé, Pantene and Lux. (The full list appears below.)
The research examined the strength of brands in the food, beverage, health and beauty and homecare sectors in 32 countries across four regions. It measured penetration (how many households buy a brand) and how often, representing the findings in ‘consumer reach points’.
Colgate was the only brand in the world to reach more than half the world’s population (65 per cent). It was found to be present in nearly 63 per cent of Asian households, reaching two billion consumers—which Kantar attributed to strong distribution across both urban and rural areas and adaptation for local markets. Lux had the next highest penetration rate in the region at 44 per cent. With 26 per cent penetration, Dove showed the highest growth in consumer reach points overall at 46 per cent.
In a statement, Kantar noted that a presence in all developed markets was not essential to global success for brands. Referring to its ranking of the top 50 globally, the company pointed to Ajinomoto as an example: the brand ranked 19th globally, but reached very few households in Europe and the US; it also highlighted Tang, ranked 37th, which is popular in Asia but reached just 13 per cent of households globally.
A total of 12 brands were found to reach more than a billion consumers in Asia—although they did not fall within the top 50 ranking. These included seven brands from Indonesia (Sedaap, Indomie, Masako, ABC Santos, Royco, Kapal Api and Frisian Flag), three from China (Master Kong, Mengniu and Yili) and two from India (Parle and Wheel).
According to Marcy Kou, chief executive of Kantar Worldpanel Asia, the best performing brands in the region had shown themselves able to adapt to local demands and build the most effective distribution networks to access consumers in rural areas. Kou added that all brands still had “plenty of room to recruit more shoppers in new geographies, new targets, new segments or on new occasions”.
Top 50 Asia Brand Footprint Ranking (courtesy of Kantar)
Ranking 2012 | Brand | Consumer Reach Points | Penetration | Frequency | Consumer Reach Points growth |
1 | Colgate | 2,002,058,632 | 62.6% | 6.1 | 7% |
2 | Lifebuoy | 1,731,639,300 | 41.1% | 8.1 | 1% |
3 | Nescafe | 1,463,679,931 | 23.7% | 11.8 | -4% |
4 | Pantene | 1,149,764,932 | 34.0% | 6.5 | 1% |
5 | Lux | 856,316,555 | 44.2% | 3.7 | -9% |
6 | Surf | 844,371,465 | 17.7% | 9.1 | -2% |
7 | Maggi | 835,564,427 | 23.4% | 6.8 | 12% |
8 | Pepsodent | 831,312,808 | 20.8% | 7.7 | -1% |
9 | Tide | 811,958,347 | 34.9% | 4.5 | 13% |
10 | Ajinomoto | 755,541,728 | 9.5% | 15.2 | -1% |
11 | Milo | 742,415,104 | 10.7% | 13.3 | 2% |
12 | Safeguard | 722,497,488 | 23.9% | 5.8 | 3% |
13 | Oishi | 719,326,963 | 17.7% | 7.8 | 3% |
14 | Coca-Cola | 712,043,846 | 25.8% | 5.3 | 4% |
15 | Sunlight | 711,807,623 | 15.8% | 8.6 | 1% |
16 | Sunsilk | 635,207,687 | 23.3% | 5.2 | 0% |
17 | Head & Shoulders | 555,110,590 | 28.3% | 3.8 | 11% |
18 | Orion | 548,255,945 | 18.8% | 5.6 | 19% |
19 | Downy | 539,567,822 | 10.9% | 9.5 | 4% |
20 | Dove | 517,149,267 | 25.8% | 3.8 | 46% |
21 | Lay´s | 496,898,007 | 21.3% | 4.5 | 12% |
22 | Rejoice | 492,221,891 | 21.1% | 4.5 | 6% |
23 | Clear | 487,170,345 | 18.0% | 5.2 | 0% |
24 | Oreo | 483,734,525 | 25.3% | 3.7 | 11% |
25 | Palmolive | 451,684,135 | 4.0% | 21.6 | 6% |
26 | Pepsi | 450,517,400 | 19.0% | 4.5 | -3% |
27 | Vim | 444,468,983 | 17.5% | 4.9 | 9% |
28 | Pond's | 436,932,032 | 25.4% | 3.3 | -8% |
29 | Breeze | 424,710,249 | 19.2% | 4.2 | -28% |
30 | Close-Up | 406,137,467 | 22.0% | 3.5 | 3% |
31 | Yakult | 396,561,630 | 10.3% | 7.4 | -5% |
32 | Sprite | 392,819,946 | 24.4% | 3.1 | 2% |
33 | MinuteMaid | 364,624,060 | 22.0% | 3.2 | -8% |
34 | Rexona | 361,141,794 | 13.1% | 5.3 | 0% |
35 | Johnson´s | 331,141,932 | 19.1% | 3.3 | -8% |
36 | Dettol | 319,696,964 | 21.0% | 2.9 | 4% |
37 | Tang | 296,393,983 | 7.9% | 7.2 | 6% |
38 | Knorr | 291,073,809 | 9.8% | 5.7 | -5% |
39 | Crest | 286,348,966 | 18.8% | 2.9 | -5% |
40 | Olay | 232,432,794 | 13.2% | 3.4 | 3% |
41 | Baygon | 218,518,595 | 6.6% | 6.3 | -1% |
42 | Ariel | 211,550,343 | 12.3% | 3.3 | -7% |
43 | Vaseline | 204,127,098 | 12.2% | 3.2 | -23% |
44 | Fanta | 176,737,375 | 13.9% | 2.4 | 15% |
45 | Whisper | 173,564,309 | 9.9% | 3.4 | 4% |
46 | L'Oreal | 170,103,549 | 10.6% | 3.1 | 10% |
47 | Nestea | 157,347,475 | 3.8% | 7.9 | -28% |
48 | Nivea | 146,405,312 | 8.8% | 3.2 | -3% |
49 | Omo | 138,544,783 | 9.1% | 2.9 | -39% |
50 | Comfort | 120,849,620 | 7.2% | 3.2 | -19% |