36 (46) Robert Wiseman Black & White
Sales: £156.5m (+19.1%)
Launched: 1947
With a 19.1% rise in sales, Wiseman’s Black & White is one of the fastest growers in Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands. And, unlike the only other milk brand in the table – Cravendale – Black & White is not sold in the multiples, but in c-stores and symbol groups, making its performance all the more impressive.
According to Sandy Wilkie, sales and marketing director at Robert Wiseman Dairies, much of the brand’s sales success is down to picking up business from former Dairy Farmers of Britain customers – such as Spar wholesalers – following its collapse in June 2009. “As they have become more comfortable using our product, they were more comfortable to go out and sell it to their existing members,” he says.
Black &White has also been busy picking up business from rival Dairy Crest, adds a Wiseman spokesman. Dairy Crest has made no secret of the fact that it is seeking to reduce sales to the highly competitive middleground market and focus instead on the multiples in a bid to improve profitability. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve been a beneficiary of that,” the spokesman adds.
The third feather in Black & White’s cap, says Wilkie, has been the roll-out of regional branding on bottles. In the past year, it has added ‘Welsh’ and ‘Scottish’ labels to bottles in Wales and central Scotland.
They joined Wiseman’s South West, Grampian and Cornish Black & White variants and there could be more to follow. The branding, as Wilkie says, reassures customers that “we are not clunking milk from one area of the country to another”.
37 (43) Tetley Tea
Sales: £153.1m (+9.7%)
Launched: 1837
Tetley brewed up a bagful of innovation in 2010. The past year has seen the launch of T4Kidz – a range designed for children – Tetley Soya and a selection of green teas. The brand also brought back its Tea Folk characters for a new ad campaign and launched new-look packs in September. Tetley says there is plenty of NPD in the pipeline – let’s hope it helps to reverse the 1.4% fall in volume.
38 (34) Birds Eye poultry
Sales: £149.9m (–3.1%)
Launched: 1949
Birds Eye extended its successful Bake To Perfection fish-in-a-bag concept to poultry last year, launching four chicken variants in July. The company also added new frozen chicken snacks Chicken Popsterz and Mini Chargrills to its poultry portfolio. Poultry lines were supported by the brand’s polar bear push and new brand spokeswoman Myleene Klass, although sales still fell.
39 (38) Wrigley’s Extra
Sales: £149.3m (–0.7%)
Launched: 1990
At first glance, sales of Wrigley’s Extra might not appear much to shout about. But it is a massive improvement on the 10.7% decline reported in 2009 – a slump that prompted the brand to invest £10m in a new marketing strategy for 2010. The Mars-owned gum ran 20 weeks of TV advertising last year – a fivefold increase on 2009 – with the Food Creatures ad pushing a functional message.
40 (36) Dolmio
Sales: £148.9m (–2.5%)
Launched: 1986
This January, Dolmio introduced an on-pack 100%-natural ingredients claim across the 16-strong bolognese range in a bid to address the brand’s sales slump. A new TV advertising campaign to drive home the natural ingredients message will hit screens in April. The brand is also targeting children with a range of squeezy sauces that are designed to be poured on to pasta by a child.
Britain's 100 Biggest Brands 2011
Sales: £156.5m (+19.1%)
Launched: 1947
With a 19.1% rise in sales, Wiseman’s Black & White is one of the fastest growers in Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands. And, unlike the only other milk brand in the table – Cravendale – Black & White is not sold in the multiples, but in c-stores and symbol groups, making its performance all the more impressive.
According to Sandy Wilkie, sales and marketing director at Robert Wiseman Dairies, much of the brand’s sales success is down to picking up business from former Dairy Farmers of Britain customers – such as Spar wholesalers – following its collapse in June 2009. “As they have become more comfortable using our product, they were more comfortable to go out and sell it to their existing members,” he says.
Black &White has also been busy picking up business from rival Dairy Crest, adds a Wiseman spokesman. Dairy Crest has made no secret of the fact that it is seeking to reduce sales to the highly competitive middleground market and focus instead on the multiples in a bid to improve profitability. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve been a beneficiary of that,” the spokesman adds.
The third feather in Black & White’s cap, says Wilkie, has been the roll-out of regional branding on bottles. In the past year, it has added ‘Welsh’ and ‘Scottish’ labels to bottles in Wales and central Scotland.
They joined Wiseman’s South West, Grampian and Cornish Black & White variants and there could be more to follow. The branding, as Wilkie says, reassures customers that “we are not clunking milk from one area of the country to another”.
37 (43) Tetley Tea
Sales: £153.1m (+9.7%)
Launched: 1837
Tetley brewed up a bagful of innovation in 2010. The past year has seen the launch of T4Kidz – a range designed for children – Tetley Soya and a selection of green teas. The brand also brought back its Tea Folk characters for a new ad campaign and launched new-look packs in September. Tetley says there is plenty of NPD in the pipeline – let’s hope it helps to reverse the 1.4% fall in volume.
38 (34) Birds Eye poultry
Sales: £149.9m (–3.1%)
Launched: 1949
Birds Eye extended its successful Bake To Perfection fish-in-a-bag concept to poultry last year, launching four chicken variants in July. The company also added new frozen chicken snacks Chicken Popsterz and Mini Chargrills to its poultry portfolio. Poultry lines were supported by the brand’s polar bear push and new brand spokeswoman Myleene Klass, although sales still fell.
39 (38) Wrigley’s Extra
Sales: £149.3m (–0.7%)
Launched: 1990
At first glance, sales of Wrigley’s Extra might not appear much to shout about. But it is a massive improvement on the 10.7% decline reported in 2009 – a slump that prompted the brand to invest £10m in a new marketing strategy for 2010. The Mars-owned gum ran 20 weeks of TV advertising last year – a fivefold increase on 2009 – with the Food Creatures ad pushing a functional message.
40 (36) Dolmio
Sales: £148.9m (–2.5%)
Launched: 1986
This January, Dolmio introduced an on-pack 100%-natural ingredients claim across the 16-strong bolognese range in a bid to address the brand’s sales slump. A new TV advertising campaign to drive home the natural ingredients message will hit screens in April. The brand is also targeting children with a range of squeezy sauces that are designed to be poured on to pasta by a child.
Britain's 100 Biggest Brands 2011
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