91 (88) Glade
Sales: £91.5m +3.0%
Launch: 1959
Glade has defied the downturn in air care to close the gap on arch-rival Air Wick, which leads the category. The SC Johnson-owned brand’s increasingly diverse portfolio, which spans aerosols, scented oils and candles, delivered an uplift in sales of 3%.
92 (92) Hula Hoops
Sales: £91.2m +5.0%
Launch: 1973
Hula Hoops started 2013 under new ownership after German group Intersnack acquired KP Snacks for £1.7bn. It seems a launch is on the horizon, with the brand recently applying to trademark the name Hula Hoops Twisters, presumably to help arrest declining sales.
93 (94) Capri-Sun
Sales: £90.6m +5.3%
Launch: 1966
Capri-Sun kicked off 2012 with a new flavour backed by a brand-wide £3m marketing push aimed at teens, which has paid off in growing value and volume sales. This month it launches an apple & cherry drink that will be supported by back-to-school activity.
94 (97) Thorntons
Sales: £86.3m +3.6%
Launch: 1911
New cake launches, the addition of more impulse eggs and novelty products to its Easter range, and the listing of its Continental chocolate boxes in Tesco ensured a bumper year. The company enjoyed its first like-for-like sales growth since the first quarter of 2010.
95 (103) Snickers
Sales: £85.4m +9.8%
Launch: 1930
Sterling sales success aside, Snickers recruited Joan Collins, in a memorable ad campaign with the slogan ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’.
96 (98) Dr Pepper
Sales: £85.1m +2.4%
Launch: 1885
Having entered our chart last year, Dr Pepper has cemented its place with a solid performance in a challenging carbonates market. The brand benefited from a redesign aimed at creating two clear identities for Original and sugar-free Zero variants.
97 (95) Pot Noodle
Sales: £84.3m -0.3%
Launch: 1977
Pot Noodle is feeling the heat in an increasingly crowded potted snacks market. The category leader’s sales surge - fuelled by the launch of Pot Noodle GTI in 2010 and sustained the following year with a big ad campaign - appears to have come to an end.
98 (113) Cadbury Twirl
Sales: £83.5m +20.3%
Launch: 1967
Twirl twirled into the top 100 after adding a further 20% in sales to its 30% growth in 2011. Twirl Bites continue to be a source of strong incremental sales thanks to the sharing trend. Cadbury’s sponsorship of the Olympics fuelled further growth.
99 (118) Rustlers
Sales: £83.1m +27.4%
Launch: 1999
Sex sells. More specifically, sex sells microwaveable burgers. As a result, Rustlers is looking as fit as a butcher’s… daughter. As the brand’s advertisers would put it.
It’s not all down to advertising, though. “We’ve had some big distribution gains with Tesco and Sainsbury’s,” says John Anderson, marketing director of owner Kepak. “There’s also been a focus on London, where we were underindexing. With 25k indies in the M25, it’s about getting route to market right with van sales and C&Cs.”
“We have more ads in September. Rustlers will always ruffle feathers”
Tapping into the growth of convenience retail has also been key. Central to this have been promotions, says Armstrong: “The main thing with promotions is ensuring we’re shouting louder than Pot Noodle and Ginsters, our competitors but not necessarily next to us on shelf.”
Rustlers upped ad spend by 30% in 2012 and unveiled the racy butcher’s daughter campaign in May, aimed at its young male audience.
“We’re doing more ads in September,” adds Armstrong. “Whether we go for butcher’s daughter again I don’t know, but the joy of having such a well defined audience is that we can be creative. We’ll always ruffle feathers.”
100 (110) Pizza Express
Sales: £82.4m +15.0%
Launch: 1985
Pizza Express is growing at twice the rate of other fresh pizza rivals, thanks to a focused promotional offer sticking to simple price-off deals. It has also had a striking facelift, with new variants and a packaging redesign for the brand.
No comments yet