More value than ever in being top tier
Perhaps more than any time in the history of Retailing Today’s annual brand awareness study, what it means to be a “Top Brand” has grown in value. In 14 of 17 product categories measured, brand preference among U.S. consumers stands at a higher level than a year ago. Despite the continuing growth of private label, more and more consumers are depending on brands to navigate the shopping aisles. As consumers try to make shopping trips more productive (read, fewer trips), brands help one arrive at a shopping decision more quickly and efficiently. Brands also make shopping more “secure” because the shopper is often informed by prior experience with the product, as well as by advertising campaigns targeted at communicating the brand mantra. As market baskets increase because of consumers driving less, dependence on brand familiarity grows.
While leading brands have held their positions in most categories, there are many newcomers to the Top 10 of each category. Of the 164 brands that cracked the Top 10 lists for the 17 categories tracked, 40 are new. That means that nearly one in four brands arrived in the Top 10 since last year. These shifts reflect the intense competition for brand share and suggest that entering the Top 10 is not a sanctuary of comfort. To be in the Top 10 is to know that there are other brands still in a lower tier fighting aggressively to achieve a top rung.
Close inspection of this year’s winners indicates that arriving at the Top 10 is not necessarily a consequence of robust spending on advertising. It is, however, always a consequence of achieving shelf space, product appeal and adroitly managed pricing.
Who will be on top a year from now? Retailing Today will keep you posted.
Toys| 2006 | 2007 | |
| Fisher-Price | 15% | 13% |
| Lego | 3% | 9% |
| Mattel | 10% | 9% |
| Barbie | 7% | 8% |
| Sony/Playstation | 6% | 6% |
| Hot Wheels | 5% | 5% |
| Nintendo | 3% | 5% |
| Matchbox | 1% | 5% |
| LeapFrog | 2% | 3% |
| Playskool | 2% | 3% |
Consumers with a “brand preference” range from 70% to 94% for packaged consumer products in our 2007 Top Brand study. Two substantial and historic highs were reached in this year’s study: 94% brand preference for beverages and 84% brand preference for cosmetics.
Brand preference for non-packaged products, primarily soft goods, ranges more widely, from a high of 71% for intimate apparel to a low of 28% for domestics such as linens, etc. Brand preference in nearly all of the apparel categories is up this year, and brand preference for intimate apparel is at a new eight-year peak.
Health and Beauty Aids| 2006 | 2007 | |
| Crest | 8% | 13% |
| Suave | 14% | 10% |
| Colgate | 7% | 9% |
| Pantene | 9% | 7% |
| Olay | 2% | 6% |
| Dove | 7% | 6% |
| Secret | 3% | 5% |
| Arm & Hammer | 0% | 4% |
| Revlon | 3% | 4% |
| Clairol | 0% | 4% |
| 2006 | 2007 | |
| Hallmark | 80% | 87% |
| American Greetings | 9% | 9% |
| Scotch | 0% | 1% |
| Gibson | 1% | 1% |
| The Top Brands Study was conducted from June 29 though Aug. 9, 2007. It is based on telephone interviews with a nationally projectable sample of 900 households, divided equally between men and women. The study covers 17 product categories, with preference measured in the context of shopping in big-box, mass merchant and superstores. The product rankings take into account fractions of percents to break ties and indicate where exact ties have occurred. |
| Source: All charts and statistics by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates |
| 2006 | 2007 | |
| Coke | 28% | 32% |
| Pepsi | 23% | 22% |
| Aquafina | 1% | 5% |
| Dr. Pepper | 4% | 5% |
| Tropicana | 2% | 5% |
| Minute Maid | 2% | 5% |
| Poland Spring | 3% | 4% |
| Lipton | 3% | 4% |
| Mountain Dew | 2% | 3% |
| Dasani | 1% | 3% |
| 2006 | 2007 | |
| Sony | 25% | 22% |
| Canon | 1% | 6% |
| Playstation | 3% | 5% |
| Panasonic | 5% | 5% |
| Hewlett-Packard | 6% | 5% |
| Duracell | 3% | 5% |
| Memorex | 3% | 4% |
| Dell | 11% | 3% |
| Kodak | 1% | 3% |
| Magnavox | 1% | 3% |