Lucky Me, a line of instant noodles under Monde Nissin Corp., emerged as both Brand of the Decade and Most Chosen Brand of 2021, according to data compiled by marketing data and analytics company Kantar Group.
The noodle brand, which landed in the news this July for containing traces of pesticide, topped Kantar’s Brand Footprint 2022 report, a ranking of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) based on Consumer Reach Points (CRP), which combines population or the number of households in the country; penetration or the percentage of households purchasing the brand; and the frequency of the brand being chosen by Filipinos over the course of 12 months.
Lucky Me was bought by 98.4% of Filipino homes and was chosen by local shoppers 31 times per year over the past decade, giving it a total of 9.4 billion CRP.
Aside from Lucky Me, other food and beverage brands in the top 10 brands of the decade in the Philippines are:
Nescafé (7.3 billion CRP), in second;
Silver Swan (5.4 billion CRP), in fourth;
Bear Brand (4.9 billion CRP), in sixth;
Milo (4.9 billion CRP), in seventh;
And Ajinomoto (4.6 billion CRP), eighth.
Rounding out the list are three personal care brands and one lone homecare brand: detergent brand Surf (5.6 billion CRP) in third; Palmolive (5.2 billion CRP), fifth; Safeguard (4.2 billion CRP), in ninth; and Cream Silk (4.1 billion CRP), tenth.
Meanwhile, the top 10 most chosen FMCG brands of 2021 are:
Lucky Me
Silver Swan
Bear Brand
Nescafé
Surf
Kopiko
Coca-Cola
Datu Puti
Palmolive
Safeguard
The combination of high penetration and frequency are the two chief drivers of brand growth, said Bea D. Coronol, client manager at Kantar Philippines, in a Sept. 20 briefing.
“In fact, 88% of brands in the country have achieved growth this way during the last 10 years,” she said, adding that retail sizes affect brand popularity.
“Generally, the Philippines is a sachet market. Filipinos make weekly trips to supermarket and sari-sari stores,” said Ms. Coronel. “Having diverse sizes in a portfolio can cater to as many households as possible.”
“FMCG brands should get to know the behaviors of their target consumers better, be more present in places where they shop, and communicate effectively with them to create more moments where they can catch their attention,” said Nino C. Nierva, client director at Kantar Philippines, in a Sept. 20 statement.
“They must find ways to innovate and address the emerging needs of consumers, or offer more categories for them to choose from,” he added.
Kantar also saw an increase in e-commerce purchases for FMCG, with 10% of Filipino households purchasing FMCG products from e-commerce outlets.
“But we consider e-commerce as a niche source of purchase for Filipino shoppers, given that it mostly caters to Metro Manila, and for those with stable internet access,” said Mr. Nierva.
E-commerce for FMCG is less than 1% of the total FMCG market in the Philippines, said Des Deocareza-Lozano, director of the Worldpanel Division of Kantar Philippines.
“The challenge now for e-commerce is that, as the economy reopens and mobility is increasing, e-commerce has to differentiate itself,” Ms. Deocareza-Lozano said. “That will be the challenge now for e-commerce — how differentiated the offer is, and how we can overcome barriers like data cost and delivery charges.”
The number of households worldwide grew to 25.4 million in 2021 from 19.5 million in 2012, or an increase of 30%. This, Kantar said, offers opportunities for brands to target more shoppers. — P. B. Mirasol
