A sense of purpose
Unilever features 13 times in this year’s top 50 most chosen global brands. Lifebuoy, the world's leading health soap, is at number three. Knorr, Dove, Lux and Sunlight all feature in the top 20. Brooke Bond Tea is a new addition to the top 50. Sunlight is ranked as the top homecare brand. And Dove added the most consumers to its portfolio, reaching 14 million new households.
Kantar’s extensive analysis measures which brands are being bought by the most consumers, most often, around the world. It examines around 1 billion households and 300 billion shopper decisions across 39 countries.
Consumers are increasingly attracted to brands with a sense of purpose. In this Kantar study, more than two-thirds of our brands included in the top 50 are Unilever Sustainable Living Brands.
In our latest Sustainable Living Plan update - published on 23 May - we announced that our most sustainable brands are growing over 50% faster than the rest of the business and delivered more than 60% of the company’s growth in 2016.
Stronger, faster growth
“Increasingly, we see that people want to buy from companies and brands that not only have great products at the right price, but also fit with their values,” says Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Keith Weed.
“Our experience is that brands whose purpose and products respond to that demand are delivering stronger and faster growth. Our business is investment-led, innovation-led and sustainability-led. We will continue to invest in our brands to drive their growth, popularity and consumer benefits whilst ensuring they are contributing positively to society and the environment.”
The Unilever brands in the Kantar Worldpanel Global Top 50 are: Lifebuoy (3rd), Sunsilk (10th), Knorr (11th), Dove (12th), Lux (13th), Sunlight (14th), Pepsodent (18th), Surf (27th), Rexona (28th), Vim (29th), Brooke Bond (34th), Close Up (42nd) and Lipton (48th).
Unilever tops Globescan/SustainAbility Leaders Brand Report
This week also saw the announcement that Unilever has topped the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Leaders Brand Report for the seventh year running. The report looks at the companies, NGOs and governments that experts believe are leading the sustainability agenda.