Vietnam’s most chosen FMCG brand owners and brands 2020

Alongside the publication of the global Brand Footprint 2020 report, we are excited to bring to you the 2^nd edition of this annual series – Asia Brand Footprint 2020, specifically focusing on Asian markets including China mainland, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The rankings and key findings are based on Worldpanel data.

For Vietnam’s rankings, we reveal the top 10 FMCG brand owners, and the top 10 FMCG brands in Health & Beauty, Home Care, Food, Beverages, Dairy and Dairy Substitutes being bought by the most consumers, the most often in Urban 4 Cities (Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Da Nang and Can Tho) and Rural Vietnam.

Brand Footprint is set apart from other brand rankings by providing information on real consumer behaviour rather than attitude. Consumer Reach Points (CRPs) form the basis of the ranking. An innovative metric that measures how many households around the world are buying a brand (penetration) and how often (frequency), it provides a true representation of shopper choice.

The top 10 brand owners in Urban 4 Cities and Rural Vietnam revealed by Kantar’s Brand Footprint 2020 are:

Unilever maintains the top Rural position thanks to timely innovation investment which helped ride the wave of hygiene demand among Vietnamese households as well has helping them to expand their brand awareness. With the unprecedented COVID virus, demand for hygiene products remains higher than the past, which can trigger further opportunities for Unilever to grow in the future.

Vinamilk preserves position as the brand owner being picked up the most in Urban 4 key cities for the 8^th consecutive year posting a healthy gap with other FMCG players in the ranking. This local manufacturer has reached more than 80% of Vietnamese households in part due to several advertising activities highlighting its core value as well as an innovated brand image with new products launched to feed consumer demand.

Marked as the only brand owner to achieve double-digit growth among the Rural rankings, Nestlé makes a strong push by adding nearly 480,000 new Rural buyers which driven across its large product portfolio.

Another manufacturer – Calofic keeps its positive momentum in both Urban 4 cities and Rural Vietnam primarily thanks to a good performance from Simply – its core brand – through lots of communication and marketing activities in the past year.

BRAND RANKINGS BY SECTOR

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

P/S locks its position as the most chosen Healthy & beauty brand in both Urban 4 cities and Rural Vietnam. 7 in 10 Vietnamese people have trusted to use this brand in their daily personal hygiene routine.

In fact, P/S owner – Unilever covers more than half of the top 10 brands in ranking. Close-Up – another oral care brand from Unilever, targeting more to younger consumers climbs 1 spot in Urban ranking thanks to new launches capturing the natural trend last year, which helped attracted nearly 40,000 Urban new buyers.

Shining as the fastest rising star – Pantene is doing great in Urban 4 cities by adding more than 53,000 new consumers as well as posting outstanding CRP growth of 15% which is primarily driven by the extension on a lot of promotion campaigns. This P&G’s brand also increases 2 ranks and debuts on the top 10 most chosen healthy and beauty brands for its 1^st time.

In the context that the personal care sector is developing steadily in Rural Vietnam, we witness the sustained performance of Lifebuoy, Dove, and Diana. Being bought by 1 in 3 Rural shoppers, Diana continuously maintained its positive CRP growth of 7%and recruited more than 290,000 new buyers over the last year.

HOME CARE

The top 3 most chosen home care brands are continuously secured by Unilever with Sunlight remaining the winner for the 4^th consecutive year in both Urban 4 key cities and Rural Vietnam.

Omo gains some momentum, especially in Rural area and moved up to the second place, on par with its Urban ranking by recruiting the greatest number of additional shoppers – nearly 240,000 new families, partly thanks to several new products launched using natural ingredients (such as Omo pomegranate & bamboo, Omo lavender & rice milk) as well as timely TVC campaigns during Tet holiday which is considered as traditional laundry time before the new year.

Among Urban ranking, Vim – another Unilever brand witnesses a positive performance. The brand is not only the fastest growing brand in CRP but also the best recruiter in the top 10. Moving 1 position to number 8, it enjoys a soaring growth of 28% in terms of CRPs.

Lix – a local detergent brand secured its position in the top 5 home care brands being bought the most in both Urban 4 cities and Rural Vietnam. Moreover, with the non-stop effort to strengthen the value-for-money it brings to Urban consumers, Lix is also honored as the 2^nd fastest riser across all FMCG brands in terms of CRP growth.

Paper products is an area which has performed well in Vietnam recently. In Urban 4 key cities, Ha Noi (Tien Hieu) – a Vietnamese player hit robust CRP growth of 21%, helping it jump 1 place into the number 6 among Home care sector. In Rural, Viet Nhat is also doing well to reach more than 200,000 new shoppers over the last year.

FOOD

Hao Hao and Nam Ngu keep their places as the most chosen Food brands in Urban 4 key cities and Rural Vietnam respectively. Despite huge coverage in Rural area, Nam Ngu still enlarges its consumer base by adding extra 250,000 new shoppers. Whilst, thanks to strong brand awareness and several regular promotion campaigns, H?o H?o jumped 1 spot entering to top 3 food brands being chosen the most by Rural households.

Chin-su performs well and is the brand adding the most shoppers into its base within the top 10 in Urban and Rural. This Masan’s core brand achieved a significant growth of 15% and 9% in Urban and Rural respectively through a lot of marketing campaigns specific to Tet season as well as charity activities to help build its strong brand awareness and image.

Zoom in Rural market, Simply enters into the top ranking for its 1^st time showing the fastest CRPs growth among the top chosen Food sector with the double-digit growth of 11%. This brand is expanding its shopper base thanks to strong distribution in modern trade and general trade as well.

BEVERAGES

Coca-Cola continues to strengthen its stronghold as the world’s most chosen brand and also leads the top beverage ranking in Vietnam Urban 4 cities. In addition, thanks to a lot of successful marketing campaigns raising up Vietnamese national pride as well as sportsmanship in football, this winner also stepped 1 rank into Rural ranking with a positive growth of 7% in terms of CRPs.

In Urban 4 key cities, La Vie moves up 2 positions among the ranking. This Nestlé brand shines bright with a CRP growth of 6% and continues to recruit more than 100,000 new buyers partly thanks to its investment in new product development, diversifying product choices including La Vie Sparkling Water.

More interestingly, 4 of the Top 10 brands belong to coffee players which reflects Vietnamese consumers’ culture and habit. Vinacafe – enters the top 10 in Urban 4 cities for its first time, showing an impressive performance as the rising star among total FMCG brands and climbing 3 ranks. Meanwhile, G7 and Maccoffee also respectively move 2 steps into the top 6 and top 8 in Rural rankings.

Jumping up 4 spots, Mirinda made a remarkable move by registering its name in the Rural ranking for the 1^st time with a double-digit CRP growth of 28%. Moreover, this brand attracted more than 560,000 new buyers in Rural Vietnam through several advertising campaigns specifically targeting to Tet festivals and enhance consumer experience with its new “green” flavor – “Mirinda Soda Kem”.

DAIRY AND DAIRY SUBSTITUTES

Vinamilk, the well-known local dairy brand is still being chosen the most in both Urban 4 cities and Rural Vietnam thanks to its wide consumer base especially in Urban where its penetration (92%) is much higher than others in the list. The launch of organic products in recent times have further enhanced the brand’s image. Additionally, the brand attracted nearly 120,000 new households in rural areas by continuously emphasizing its core fresh image.

Achieving a robust growth of 20% in terms of CRPs in Rural Vietnam, TH True is honored as the fastest growing brand among Top 10 thanks to the extension on product portfolio to meet different consumer needs such as TH True Juice, TH True Yogurt, TH True Rice, etc.

Despite being a well-established brand, Milo progressively increases its footprint in Rural areas with the double-digit CRPs growth of 16% and over 420,000 new households added. This Nestle brand still focuses on the nutrition trend and strengthens its brand awareness through several advertising campaigns.

Due to the heightened trends of health and convenience among Vietnamese consumers in recent years, drinking yogurt has been showing an optimistic performance in both Vietnam urban (4 key cities) and rural areas. Capturing that huge opportunity with a strong investment in distribution, Yakult made a significant achievement, growing by 23% in CRPs and jumping up 3 spots in Urban (4 cities) ranking. The brand has been featured among the top 10 most chosen brands in Dairy & Dairy substitutes for the 1st time.

* CRPs: Consumer Reach Points  

Methodology & Criteria

The categories: The complete ranking is comprised of 5 FMCG sectors tracked around the world by Kantar across the Beverages, Food, Dairy, Beauty & Personal Care and Home Care. Fresh food, batteries and pet food are not included in the global ranking – but brands in these categories may appear in local rankings where they are tracked within a specific country.

All data relates to purchases that are brought into the home to be consumed there.

The ‘universe’: The research behind the Brand Footprint ranking covers 74% of the global population across 52 countries, and 85% of the global GDP.

The data period: Brand Footprint data was collected over the 12-month period between November 2018 and October 2019.

Data source: The Brand Footprint publication is a Kantar initiative, and the ranking is created in collaboration with GfK in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Sweden, with IRI in the US, with Intage in Japan and with CTR in China.

Source: Kantarworld