51 (43) Tetley
Sales: £130.9m -4.6%
Launch: 1960
The humble cuppa is in hot water as drinkers turn to posh tea (and coffee). So Tetley launched Blend of Both, a mix of green and black tea, last February, and says the NPD, backed by the return of the Tea Folk and a Facebook ‘brew map’ (right), was a hit.
52 (45) Fairy liquid
Sales: £130.5m -3.5%
Launch: 1960
Talk about a non-runner. P&G picked Paula Radcliffe as the face of Fairy only for her to pull out of the Olympics with an injury. That certainly didn’t help matters, but Fairy Liquid’s fall from grace is more down to the ongoing fight it’s having with own label.
53 (52) Lenor
Sales: £129.6m +5.5%
Launch: 1963
The October relaunch of Lenor helped energise a brand already driving growth in fabric conditioners. P&G added a second perfume note to its formula to make sheets smell fresh for a week rather than just a day, backed by the Fresh Sheet Week campaign.
54 (61) Surf
Sales: £125.6m +11.8%
Launch: 1952
Pop culture references don’t always work for brands. But Surf proved its street cred with a limited-edition Surf Summer D’reem detergent. The word ‘reem’ is a term in The Only Way is Essex to describe something that looks good like Surf’s recent sales figures.
55 (54) Cadbury biscuits
Sales: £124.8m +3.6%
Launch: 1891
The poor old biscuit category didn’t see much of all the Olympic excitement. retailers devoted in-store space to party food and drink - and the biscuit was elbowed out of the way. But Cadbury Fingers bucked the trend, with volumes up 13.4%.
56 (62) Bakers
Sales: £123.1m +1.8%
Launch: 1992
Adding chicory - as Bakers did with its Complete range last August - perhaps doesn’t sound much of a recession-beater. However, it was enough to keep the Bakers brand’s more than 20 years of continuous growth going. But only just.
57 (57) McVitie’s Digestives
Sales: £122.1m +2.5%
Launch: 1839
Although volume sales are disappointing, McVities can’t be accused of being lazy in 2012. In addition to a new Union Flag pack design and a limited-edition tin for the Jubilee, McVitie’s unveiled an augmented reality campaign and launched breakfast biscuits.
58 (70) Magnum
Sales: £121.7m +18.9%
Launch: 1989
Sticks are the strongest subcategory in ice cream at present, thanks to the lip-smacking growth Unilever’s Magnum has achieved. How’s it done it?
It’s certainly not down to the weather. Or the economy, for that matter. Innovation allied to strong channel management have been the watchwords. Last March’s launch of super-indulgent Magnum Infinity, backed by a £10m campaign, helped. “Magnum Infinity has once again brought excitement into the category and tapped into the trend for consumers wishing to reward themselves,” says Holly Ashton, marketing executive for ice cream impulse at Unilever.
The brand also joined forces with ‘food exhibitionists’ Bompas & Parr and opened a pop-up Magnum Infinity Pleasure Pod at Westfield Stratford shopping centre - fronted by Kelly Brook- in July to take advantage of the influx of Olympic visitors. Customers could create their own ice cream from a choice of 18 flavours such as chilli, popping candy and rose petals.
And as if that wasn’t enough activity for one year, in September the brand was extended into tubs for the first time with Magnum Luxury.
59 (56) Heinz Ketchup
Sales: £119.9m -0.1%
Launch: 1876
Heinz can be reasonably satisfied with flat sales given pressure from own label and a non-existent barbecue season. And credit to the brand for its continuing development of on-trend and ‘foodie’ flavours, and disruptive sizes and bottle designs.
60 (62) Fairy laundry
Sales: £119.0m +6.7%
Launch: 1957
An increase in promotional activity has played a big part in Fairy’s success in laundry. Owner P&G has shown it is not afraid to get down and dirty with Fairy - unlike some of its other brands - in the price war with own label. It seems to have paid off.
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