21 (20) Persil
Sales: £212.6m (–2.2%)
Launched: 1909
Persil’s 100-year history has earned it the trust of consumers, but that doesn’t mean brand owner Unilever has been resting on its laurels. It relaunched Persil in May, supported by an £8m TV campaign, and in December repositioned the Persil Capsules range under the Small & Mighty banner. But with sales falling 2.2% last year, it appears there is still some work to be done.

22 (27) Cathedral City
Sales: £212.4m (+8.5%)
Launched: 1989
Rising into the top 25, and smashing through the £200m barrier, Cathedral City has shown that shoppers are as keen on savoury as they are on sweet – here’s a cheese brand selling £7.3m more than Kit Kat. Cathedral’s 2010 performance was particularly impressive, with its value sales growth accompanied by a 9.9% jump in volume. It  remains the only Cheddar brand in the 100 biggest brands.

23 (22) Pedigree
Sales: £210.4m (+2.0%)
Launched: 1960
Pet-loving Brits continue to pamper their four-legged friends, with the Pedigree brand maintaining its dominance of the sector by appealing to the masses and offering NPD catering for a range of diets. New products for 2010 included Pedigree Meaty Mixers, which are designed to be served with dry food. In April the brand launched The Pedigree Adoption Drive to raise money for abandoned dogs.

24 (26) Kit Kat
Sales: £205.1m (+4.1%)
Launched: 1935
Despite a headline-grabbing row with Greenpeace over palm oil sourcing, Nestlé’s Kit Kat shrugged off the controversy with some heavyweight activity in 2010.

It kicked off the year by switching its four-fingered bars to Fairtrade status before launching a series of ‘break’-led promos.

Its £4.4m Perfect Break campaign, launched in February, offered millions of chocolate lovers the chance to win holidays, while promotions upped a gear during the World Cup when Nestlé ploughed £10m into a football-themed cash giveaway.

Packs of Kit Kat four-finger, Chunky and Chunky Caramel featured a Cross Your Fingers flash, giving consumers the chance to win £1,000 every day from 3 May to 11 July by going online and entering a code found on-pack. The move was Nestlé’s largest spend on a promotion and helped buoy Kit Kat value by 4.1% and volume by 4% year-on-year.

NPD was also firmly on the agenda – in September Nestlé launched Kit Kat Senses Caramel Cream, replacing a hazelnut variant, to broaden the bar’s appeal to its 25 to 34-year-old female customer base.

Packaging on selected bars carried a pink ribbon flash to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month, and Nestlé guaranteed a minimum donation of £100,000 to the campaign. Its Kit Kat Chunky Caramel bar also extended into a duo product as Nestlé sought to build on its king-size singles range.

Plans for 2011 have appeared more limited to date with a sharing bag already for sale in 99p Stores for just 99p.

25 (16) Young’s frozen fish
Sales: £201.5m (–10.8%)
Launched: 1975
Last year brought choppy waters for the frozen fish category, with consumers reluctant to stray from deep-cut promotions. Despite a raft of NPD, Young’s tumbled nine places in 2010 as volume and value sales saw double-digit declines. But Young’s remains determined to drive on its NPD agenda – 2011 has seen a tie-up with Kingsmill, and the promise of battered mackerel following Hugh’s Fish Fight.

Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands 2011

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