46 (45) Schweppes
Sales: £136.2m (+3.1%)
Launched: 1783
Schweppes fell one place this year, with growth dropping from the 6.5% recorded last year to 3.1%, and volume dipping by 0.3%. There was a strong performance from water line Schweppes Abbey Well, off the back of its 2012 Olympic sponsorship and Schwim Free initiative. In July, a £6m TV ad was launched that featured perils such as finding a leopard in your living room, with the strapline “At the end of the day, there’s always a Schweppes”.
47 (48) Uncle Ben’s
Sales: £134.7m (+3.3%)
Launched: 1966
Mars says the overhaul of Uncle Ben’s Express Rice range that began in 2009 has paid dividends over the past year.
As rivals Tilda and Veetee added variants to their own microwaveable ranges, Mars lured consumers to its family oriented rice brand with improved flavours, a lower-salt recipe and pack redesigns. The roll-out of the new lines was not completed until mid-2010, which explains the modest 3.3% growth, claims Mars.
In April, it united its sauces and rices under the same marketing banner for the first time with the £1.2m Make Teatime With Uncle Ben’s campaign.
“It was developed to highlight the ease of creating a stress-free, quick and tasty teatime for the whole family,” says customer marketing manager Wendy Wing. “A recent study by Uncle Ben’s showed that 22% of household cooks regarded speed as the most important factor when cooking an evening meal.”
As part of the campaign, Uncle Ben’s ran advertorials in women’s weekly magazines and gained a large digital presence from a link-up with MSN. But what really won over mums, says Wing, was the sampling and live cookery demonstrations in 140 supermarkets around the UK.
This activity aside, however, the brand has had a quiet year on the marketing front, which is especially evident in sauces. Uncle Ben’s sister brand Dolmio attracted most of Mars Foods’ focus last year with a £4.4m ad spend that marked a 21% increase on the previous year, some way ahead of the £2.7m investment in Uncle Ben’s, which was up just 6.8% on the previous year’s spend [Ebiquity].
48 (47) Finish dishwasher
Sales: £133.1m (+2.0%)
Launched 1950
Efforts by brand owner Reckitt Benckiser to cover every dishwasher requirement with Finish dishwasher has given it more than 50% of the auto-dishwashing category. Among the variants are the wrapper-free Finish Quantum and others that promise to deliver drier dishes. Its latest addition – the auto-dosing dishwasher detergent system Finish QuantuMatic – is claimed by RB to be a world first and has helped push sales up 2%.
49 (58) Fairy washing-up
Sales: £129.9 (+12.7%)
Launched: 1960
This Fairy’s got some impressive wings – soaring nine places up the table. Its performance has been helped by activity around the brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2010, including a TV push and a limited-edition relaunch of the classic white bottle. In September, Fairy unveiled new formulas for its Original and Lemon liquids, and has since revamped its Clean & Care range to include a ‘Touch of Olay softness’.
50 (42) Müller Light
Sales: £129.9m (–7.4%)
Launched: 1990
There was little good news for Müller Light in 2010, with sales down 7.4% in value terms and 9.2% in volume. The performance will come as a big disappointment as it follows 8.9% growth recorded in last year’s Britain’s Biggest Brands. In June, Müller launched the Inspired By range of pudding-themed yoghurts in a bid to grab share from more indulgent snacking options, and spent £7m on advertising last year.
Britain's 100 Biggest Brands 2011
Sales: £136.2m (+3.1%)
Launched: 1783
Schweppes fell one place this year, with growth dropping from the 6.5% recorded last year to 3.1%, and volume dipping by 0.3%. There was a strong performance from water line Schweppes Abbey Well, off the back of its 2012 Olympic sponsorship and Schwim Free initiative. In July, a £6m TV ad was launched that featured perils such as finding a leopard in your living room, with the strapline “At the end of the day, there’s always a Schweppes”.
47 (48) Uncle Ben’s
Sales: £134.7m (+3.3%)
Launched: 1966
Mars says the overhaul of Uncle Ben’s Express Rice range that began in 2009 has paid dividends over the past year.
As rivals Tilda and Veetee added variants to their own microwaveable ranges, Mars lured consumers to its family oriented rice brand with improved flavours, a lower-salt recipe and pack redesigns. The roll-out of the new lines was not completed until mid-2010, which explains the modest 3.3% growth, claims Mars.
In April, it united its sauces and rices under the same marketing banner for the first time with the £1.2m Make Teatime With Uncle Ben’s campaign.
“It was developed to highlight the ease of creating a stress-free, quick and tasty teatime for the whole family,” says customer marketing manager Wendy Wing. “A recent study by Uncle Ben’s showed that 22% of household cooks regarded speed as the most important factor when cooking an evening meal.”
As part of the campaign, Uncle Ben’s ran advertorials in women’s weekly magazines and gained a large digital presence from a link-up with MSN. But what really won over mums, says Wing, was the sampling and live cookery demonstrations in 140 supermarkets around the UK.
This activity aside, however, the brand has had a quiet year on the marketing front, which is especially evident in sauces. Uncle Ben’s sister brand Dolmio attracted most of Mars Foods’ focus last year with a £4.4m ad spend that marked a 21% increase on the previous year, some way ahead of the £2.7m investment in Uncle Ben’s, which was up just 6.8% on the previous year’s spend [Ebiquity].
48 (47) Finish dishwasher
Sales: £133.1m (+2.0%)
Launched 1950
Efforts by brand owner Reckitt Benckiser to cover every dishwasher requirement with Finish dishwasher has given it more than 50% of the auto-dishwashing category. Among the variants are the wrapper-free Finish Quantum and others that promise to deliver drier dishes. Its latest addition – the auto-dosing dishwasher detergent system Finish QuantuMatic – is claimed by RB to be a world first and has helped push sales up 2%.
49 (58) Fairy washing-up
Sales: £129.9 (+12.7%)
Launched: 1960
This Fairy’s got some impressive wings – soaring nine places up the table. Its performance has been helped by activity around the brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2010, including a TV push and a limited-edition relaunch of the classic white bottle. In September, Fairy unveiled new formulas for its Original and Lemon liquids, and has since revamped its Clean & Care range to include a ‘Touch of Olay softness’.
50 (42) Müller Light
Sales: £129.9m (–7.4%)
Launched: 1990
There was little good news for Müller Light in 2010, with sales down 7.4% in value terms and 9.2% in volume. The performance will come as a big disappointment as it follows 8.9% growth recorded in last year’s Britain’s Biggest Brands. In June, Müller launched the Inspired By range of pudding-themed yoghurts in a bid to grab share from more indulgent snacking options, and spent £7m on advertising last year.
Britain's 100 Biggest Brands 2011
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