Thirty-four brands have made it to the final of the “Brand of the Year 2017” competition organized by “Verslo žinios” and the research company “Nielsen.” The winners, as well as the most effective marketing campaign, will be announced at the annual “Password 2017” conference in mid-March.
The majority of the finalists in the “Brand of the Year 2017” competition are brands from four fast-moving consumer goods categories (FMCG): food and groceries, beverages, personal hygiene, and home care products, with the strongest sales and the highest year-on-year growth.
The jury selected the finalists based on the market share they held in Lithuania and its change, calculated in units and by value in 2016 compared with 2015. It also took into account whether the entire product category grew or declined. Nielsen collects this data from retail chains and the largest sellers of cosmetics, hygiene products, and home care products. The only company that does not provide data to Nielsen is Lidl Lietuva.
“This retail chain does not disclose data in many countries, and Lithuania is no exception,” says Artūras Urbonavičius, Nielsen’s head of retail analytics for Eastern Europe and chairman of the “Brand of the Year 2017” competition. However, Lidl’s entry into the market brought undeniable changes.
More Favorable Toward Private Labels
“On the one hand, we can see that Lithuanian consumers are beginning to trust retailers’ private-label brands more. Lidl likely contributed to this as well, since most of its products are the chain’s own brands. On the other hand, both retail chains and major food brands, which traditionally rank near the top of the FMCG list by sales volume, have had to accept greater or smaller losses,” says Mr. Urbonavičius.
The current situation also explains the decline in sales of the food brands with the highest revenues. If we look at the top ten of such companies in 2016, only two brands—“Dvaro” and “Rokiškio”—recorded higher sales both in value and in volume.
And in 2015, compared with the previous year, as many as six food brands managed to increase at least one of those indicators. In 2016, the major beverage producers also more often recorded declines than growth.
Looking at the competition’s six-year history, only Coca-Cola has always made it to the finalists; in other words, throughout all those years the brand recorded sales growth. Accordingly, Dvaro and Grite enjoyed five years of growth, while Vilkyškių, Volfas Engelman, and Stumbras enjoyed four years (the latter did not make it into the competition this time because their sales declined in 2016).
Among the selected finalists, the smaller brands that increased sales the fastest by value in 2016 were Zigmas, Akvilė, and Pasaka. By unit sales, the biggest growers were Pols, Akvilė, Zigmas, and Aistė.
Other Stages
The next criterion for evaluating the competition finalists is a survey by the market research company Rait, which will assess the selected brands’ awareness, appeal, recommendation index among consumers, and other data. The market research company Baltmi will analyze the penetration of the selected finalists in households, i.e. what share of households purchased the brand at least once during a given period.
The finalists’ marketing moves, creativity, and innovation will also be evaluated. Another indicator in determining the winners is the communication effectiveness and image of the brands in traditional and social media, researched by the media monitoring company Mediaskopas. The year-on-year change in advertising spending by the brand finalists will also be taken into account when selecting the winners — this data is provided by the market research company Kantar TNS.
The main competition nomination is “Brand of the Year 2017”; the most successful international brand in Lithuania will also be chosen, the most original design solutions will be recognized, and the most interesting marketing moves by small companies will be highlighted. As usual, readers of vz.lt will also be able to vote for their favorite brand and choose their sympathy brand (voting will start at the end of February).
Finalists of the “Brand of the Year 2017”
(The brand, its owner, or its representative in Lithuania
1. “Aistė” (“Tukuma Piens” and “Varėnos pienelis”
2. “Akvilė” (“Birštono mineraliniai vandenys”
3. “Air Wick” (“Reckitt Benckiser”
4. “Ariel” (“Procter & Gamble”
5. “Bajorų” (“Vilniaus degtinė”
6. “Bioderma” (“Bioderma Laboratoire Dermatologique”
7. “Biržų duona” (“Biržų duona”
8. “Borjomi” (“IDS Borjomi International”
9. “Bref” (“Henkel”
10. “Coca-Cola” (“Coca-Cola HBC Lietuva”
11. “Dadu” (“Vikeda”
12. “Daivida” (Rokiškis Meat Processing Plant
13. “Dvaro” (“Pieno žvaigždės”
14. “Ecodenta” (“Biok Laboratory”
15. “Grite” (“Grigeo Grigiškės”
16. “Kakė Makė” (“Alma littera”
17. “Lavazza” (“Amoka”
18. “Lays” (“Pepsico”
19. “Magija” (Žemaitija Milk
20. “Malsena” (“Malsena Plus”
21. “Maybelline” (“L’Oreal”
22. “Oho” (“New Nevėžis”
23. “Paulig” (“Paulig”
24. “Pasaka” (“Pieno žvaigždės”
25. “Pols” (“Premia KPC”
26. “Rasa” (“Biok Laboratory”
27. “Red Bull” (“Red Bull”
28. “Rokiškio” (“Rokiškio Cheese”
29. “Švyturys” (“Carlsberg Baltic”)
30. “Taffel” (“Orkla Group”)
31. “Torres” (“Miguel Torres”)
32. “Utenos” (“Carlsberg Baltic”)
33. “Žemaitijos” (“Žemaitijos pienas”)
34. “Zigmas” (“Iceco Žuvis”)
Last year’s contest was won by Vilniaus paukštynas, which became the “Brand of the Year 2016.” This brand increased sales and managed to reach younger buyers, and one of the company’s key changes is considered to be the decision to create the “Vištiena kitaip” brand.
The Most Effective Awards
As with the “Brand of the Year” competition, the selection of the most effective marketing campaigns is an integral part of the “Password” conference. Companies are currently invited to submit their most effective marketing projects — applications must be completed by February 20.
Marketing solutions implemented in 2016 and completed no later than mid-February 2017 may be submitted for this year’s competition. For each of the seven categories, entries may be submitted for the large-budget and small-budget segments.
After evaluating the applications, the jury will announce the finalists in each category in early March. They will present their marketing campaigns at the “Password 2017” conference. Then the winners in each category will be selected and awarded from among the candidates, and one grand prize winner will be chosen from them.
The main evaluation criteria for the most effective marketing campaign remain the same: insight (30%), execution (30%), and results (40%). The greatest emphasis is placed on the results.
Read more: http://vz.lt/rinkodara/2017/02/07/tarp-metu-prekes-zenklo-finalininku-34-zenklai
