A total of 34 brands 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, which is selected at the same time, 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 products, and household care products, all of which are posting the strongest sales and the biggest year-over-year growth.
The jury selected the finalists based on their market share in Lithuania and its change, calculated in units and by value in 2016 compared with 2015. It also took into account whether the overall product category grew or declined. Nielsen collects this data from retail chains and the largest sellers of cosmetics, hygiene products, and household care products. Only Lidl Lietuva does not provide data to Nielsen.
“This retail chain does not disclose its data in many countries, and Lithuania is no exception,” notes 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 labels more. Lidl probably contributed to this as well, since the majority of its products are the chain’s own private labels. On the other hand, both retail chains and major food brands, which traditionally rank at the top of the FMCG list by sales volume, have had to accept larger or smaller losses,” says Mr. Urbonavičius.
The current situation also explains the decline in sales of food brands with the highest turnover. If we look at the top ten such companies in 2016, only two brands — Dvaro and Rokiškio — posted higher sales both by value and by volume.
And in 2015, compared with the previous year, as many as six food brands managed to increase at least one of these indicators. In 2016, major beverage producers more often recorded declines than growth.
Looking at the six-year competition statistics, Coca-Cola has always been among the finalists; in other words, throughout all those years the brand posted sales growth. Likewise, Dvaro and Grite enjoyed growth for five years, and Vilkyškių, Volfas Engelman, and Stumbras for 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 volume, the biggest growth was recorded by the brands Pols, Akvilė, Zigmas, and Aistė.
Next 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 bought the brand at least once over a certain period).
The finalists’ marketing moves, creativity, and innovativeness will also be assessed. Another indicator used to evaluate the winners is the communication effectiveness and image of the brands in traditional and social media, studied by the media monitoring company Mediaskopas. When selecting the winners, the change in the finalists’ advertising spending over the year will also be taken into account — this data is provided by the market research company Kantar TNS.
The main competition title is “Brand of the Year 2017.” The most successful international brand in Lithuania will also be selected, the most original design solutions will be recognized, and the most interesting marketing moves by small companies will be highlighted. Traditionally, readers of vz.lt will also be able to vote for their favorite brand and choose their sympathy brand (voting will begin at the end of February).
Finalists of the "Brand of the Year 2017"
(The brand, its owner, or 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 laboratorija”
15. “Grite” (“Grigeo Grigiškės”
16. “Kakė Makė” (“Alma littera”
17. “Lavazza” (“Amoka”
18. “Lays” (“Pepsico”
19. “Magic” (“Samogitia Milk”
20. “Malsena” (“Malsena Plius”
21. “Maybelline” (“L’Oreal”
22. “Oho” (“New Nevėžis”
23. “Paulig” (“Paulig”
24. “Pasaka” (“Milk Stars”
25. “Pols” (“Premia KPC”
26. “Rasa” (“Biok laboratorija”
27. “Red Bull” (“Red Bull”
28. “Rokiškis” (“Rokiškis 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 competition was successful for 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 brand “Chicken, But Different.”
Most Effective Elections
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 in the large-budget and small-budget segments.
After evaluating the applications, the jury will announce the finalists in each category at the beginning of March. They will present their marketing campaigns at the “Password 2017” conference. Then the winners of each category will be selected and awarded from among the nominees, 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%), implementation (30%), and results (40%). The greatest emphasis is placed on the results.
Read more: http://vz.lt/marketing/2017/02/07/among-brand-of-the-year-finalists-34-brands
