Parle continues to be India's top brand: Kantar Worldpanel

Parle continues to top the top brands list in India, says the Brand Footprint study of Kantar Worldpanel. Amul stands at No. 2 after climbing a spot, while Clinic Plus has slipped by one position.

Interestingly, Patanjali is the fastest growing brand climbing 32 positions in the chart to stay at No. 30 in 2016’s top brands’ list. The second most rapidly growing brand is Sunsilk, which has come up by 11 positions to stand at No. 29.

The other brands in the top 10 list are Britannia, Ghadi, Nandini, Aavin, Colgate, Tata and Wheel. Kantar Worldpanel, in a recent event, announced its Baby panel that was launched in January 2017 and the upcoming Out-Of-Home panel, which will be launched soon. The research firm currently operates two panels in India – household with 82,000 samples (visited monthly) and ComeTech (visited quarterly).

Ramakrishnan K

Asked about the need for a Baby panel, Ramakrishnan K, Country Head, Kantar Worldpanel, said, “We look at it from the opportunity point of view. Since there isn’t enough data available on new mothers, there will be a lot of people who will buy such a piece of information.”

Adding quickly, Andy Parkinson, MD South Asia, Korea and India- Kantar Worldpanel, said, “We have a baby panel in many markets because it tends to wander into areas that are so specialist.

One presentation at the event was about baby panel and some interesting results. It explained the reason for the need of a specialised panel for young mothers. Between 0-3 years of age there are special (FMCG) purchases and after that the children start using family purchases.”

In the image 2: Baby panel analysis, it can be seen that soaps are at an all-time high with 91-92 per cent buys. However, all other products either witness a growth in purchase or a decline. Diaper, talcum powder, baby cereals and infant milk powders go on decreasing as the child grows from 0-3 years of age. Milk food drink witnessed increased purchases as the child grows up, which is what is expected. But surprisingly, milk food drink is also purchased by 7 per cent households with kids in 0-1 years of age and 21 per cent households with 1-2 years. Milk food drink is supposed to be given to a child after the age of two. The Kantar representative stressed the need to educate the new mothers about such things.

The study indicated that globally, local brands had a faster growth rate with 3.9 per cent in 2016, against global brands (2.6 per cent). Especially in the food category, the chance of a local brand getting selected is 74 per cent, while in the beverage category, there is a 67 per cent chance. Another point mentioned in the report, “In 2016, the price gap between global and local brands has narrowed to the point of disappearing. No longer does being a global brand automatically command a price premium. Global brand owners have to work harder to convince consumers that a global choice offers additional reassurance of quality and confers prestige.”

Ramakrishnan said attracting new consumers is most important for a rapid growth. “Retaining the existing consumers for repeat buys is also important, but increasing penetration is very important. Penetration is the term given to the number of households where your brand reaches.”

Parkinson stated that globally, fast-paced growth will always come from expanding the user base, which is penetration. “The world over, the ratio of increase in new customers versus retention of existing ones stands at 50:50. But it should be skewed towards attracting the new ones.”

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