Coca-cola retains pole position as world’s most chosen brand

Coca-cola retained its position as the world’s most chosen consumer brand for the eighth consecutive year in the latest Brand Footprint report from Kantar Worldpanel.

The report identifies 40 FMCG brands, nine more from last year, that have been chosen by consumers over one billion times in 2019.

Coca-cola remained in the pole position with consumers picking the soft drinks giant 6 billion times. Colgate (chosen 4bn times) and Maggi (3bn times) retained their podium positions in the second and third place respectively.

Lay’s, Lifebuoy and Pepsi occupy the next three positions in the top ten. Sunsilk went two positions up from last year to the seventh place, while Dove slipped a rank to the eighth. Instant noodle brand Indomie is in the ninth position and Nescafe in tenth.

Local brands had a stronger 2019, with the number of local billionaire brands growing from 14 to 18, all of them either Indian or Chinese.

Five global brands – Brooke Bond, Head & Shoulders, Kinder, Heinz and Oreo – joined the billionaires club in 2019.

Local brands also outperformed their global counterparts in the growth of consumer reach points, with 3.1 percent growth against 2 percent of global brands.

Global brands now account for 34.1 percent brand choices around the world, while local/regional brands account for two in three 65.9 percent of the brands placed in shopping baskets.

The report identifies India as a key lever of growth, contributing the most growth for 13 of the top 25 ranked brands, compared to 8 of the top 25 in 2018.

Three top 50 brands (Pond’s, Vim and Brooke Bond) achieved a global penetration gain of 1 percent or more – meaning an additional 14 million new customers each.