Case Study
Face-to-Face Consumer Interviews For Havering Council
Colgate has embarked on an early summer push for its oral care range, storming into the top 10 most promoted brands in the process.
The brand has ramped up promotions by 25% month on month and 11% year on year [Promodynamic brands: 4 w/e 22 May 2016], putting it ahead of Mr Kipling in the snack-brand dominated top 10.
“It is unusual for anything other than snacking and wine brands to get into the top 10 because it is based on the numbers of products on promotions,” says Assosia director Kay Staniland. “Cadbury is nearly always at the top because it has so many products, whereas Colgate has a much smaller range to promote so it must be really pushing the range.”
The biggest increase in Colgate promotions was seen at the till aisles, up 13.8% year on year to account for 36.4% of the brand’s total deals. Promotions in the power aisle fell 11.91%, although it still accounted for 63.6% of Colgate deals.
Kellogg’s, Mars, Walkers, McVitie’s and Mr Kipling also hiked up promotions in the till aisles, reflecting a squeeze on promotional space in the mults, say Staniland. “Stores are running out of space for secondary activity so more of the gondola ends are now being utilised in the till aisles, historically not primary promotional areas.”
Looking at mechanics used across the top 10, there were reductions in the number of bogof (-1.5%), half price (-2.52%) and x-for-y (-1.73%) deals, while ‘save’ deals were up 5.6%, reflecting the retailer push towards basic price cuts.
But some of the biggest promoters bucked the trend by ramping up x-for-y offers, including Cadbury (+5%), Nestle (+11%), McVitie’s (+4%), Mars (+10%) and Colgate (+6%).
The overall number of promotions has fallen compared with last month and last year, suggesting “suppliers are starting to feel the pinch of everyday lower policies” adds Staniland.
Average savings were also down slightly (-1%) among the brands, with Birds Eye, Walkers, Mars, Kellogg’s and Colgate offering shoppers lower average savings year on year.
| 4 weeks to 22/05/2016 | ||||||||
| Ranking | Rank last month | Brand | Number of promotions | Increase / Decrease on previous month | Increase / Decrease on previous year | Average % saving | Average savings % change m-o-m | Average savings % change y-o-y |
| 1 | 1 | Cadbury | 407 | -0.25% | -18.76% | 28.96% | -0.2% | -2.4% |
| 2 | 2 | Nestle | 316 | 7.85% | 22.96% | 31.91% | -0.6% | -2.6% |
| 3 | 3 | McVitie’s | 240 | -0.41% | 11.11% | 35.17% | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| 4 | 5 | Birds Eye | 206 | 3.00% | -15.57% | 31.94% | 0.2% | -0.3% |
| 5 | 4 | Mars | 164 | 25.19% | -18.41% | 37.24% | 4.6% | 1.2% |
| 6 | 6 | Coca-Cola | 147 | -8.13% | -9.26% | 39.41% | 1.5% | -2.3% |
| 7 | 7 | Kellogg’s | 136 | -6.85% | -19.05% | 41.00% | 1.5% | 9.4% |
| 8 | 8 | Walkers | 126 | -10.00% | 26.00% | 32.65% | -8.1% | -12.7% |
| 9 | 9 | Mr Kipling | 119 | 26.60% | 12.26% | 34.71% | -6.3% | -8.0% |
| 10 | 11 | Napolina | 102 | -19.69% | -27.14% | 36.02% | 1.5% | 2.6% |
| Total o/l | 1802 | 0.61% | -8.39% | 26.6% | 0.0% | 0.5% | ||
| Total brands | 10248 | 0.62% | 1.65% | 32.52% | -0.1% | -0.1% | ||
| Total | 12050 | 0.62% | 0.01% | 31.64% | -0.1% | 0.1% |
Published in The Grocer, 2 June 2016