A new analysis from YouGov highlights the top-ten-performing US brands over the past year across key categories in the CPG sector.
The top ten rankings are based on YouGov BrandIndex’s Index score, which measures a brand’s overall health calculated by taking the average of our Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation metrics. The US-focused analysis spans categories such as household and personal care products, hair care, skincare, alcohol and snacks.
Household and Personal Care:
Data from our recent International CPG 2021 Report reveals that 44% of US consumers say they have bought more house-cleaning products during the past year. Dawn is the top performer in the household and personal care category followed by Clorox, Lysol, Dove and Kleenex.
Tide, Crest, Colgate, Hefty, and Listerine round out the rest of our top brands over the last year.
The Top Improved Household & Personal Brands during this time period, listed consecutively, are Lysol, Dawn, Clorox, Mrs. Meyer's, Reynolds, Hefty, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Gillette, Listerine, and SmileDirectClub.
Haircare:
Unilever-owned Dove claims the top spot among the best performing haircare brands in the US. Procter & Gamble’s Head and Shoulders and Pantene secure the second and third spots on the list, followed by TRESemmé and Herbal Essences.
The Top Improved Hair Care Brands during this time period, listed consecutively, are Dove, Sally Beauty, Revlon, L'Oréal Paris, Nice'n Easy, OGX, Preference, Head & Shoulders, Everpure, and Great Clips.
Skincare and Cosmetics:
Dove’s success doesn’t just end at hair care – the brand also takes the top spot in the skincare & cosmetics ranking. Vaseline, Neutrogena, Olay and Aveeno round out the top five brands in this category. Gold Bond, Bath & Body, Jergens, Maybelline and SoftSoap also see success in this year’s skincare rankings.
The Top Improved Skincare & Cosmetic Brands during this time period, listed consecutively, are Cereve, Cetaphil, Aquaphor, Aveeno, Vaseline, Jergens, Neutrogena, Olay, Clearasil, and Gold Bond.
Alcohol:
Alcohol consumption surged during the pandemic and Americans of legal drinking age say they plan to consume even more this holiday season (12%). With competition growing fierce in this category, Jack Daniel’s emerges as the top performing alcohol brand in the US over the last year. The American whiskey brand is followed by Baileys, Bacardi and wine company Barefoot. Canadian whiskey brand Crown Royal secures the fifth rank.
Other notable brands that make the list include Samuel Adams, Yellow Tail, Grey Goose, Heineken and Smirnoff.
The Top Improved Alcohol Brands during this same time period, listed consecutively, are Baileys, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Jameson, Bacardi, Fat Tire, Grey Goose, Corona, Crown Royale, Truly Hard Seltzer, and Tito's.
Non-alcoholic Beverages:
Juice, juice drinks and teas also saw a boon amid the pandemic as consumers sought out beverages with health and immune-supporting benefits. Ocean Spray ranks as the top performer in the Non-Alcoholic category followed closely by Lipton, Welch’s, V8 and Gatorade.
Other familiar brands to make the top ten include breakfast favorites Tropicana and Minute Maid as well as Arizona Iced Tea, Folgers and Dole.
The Top Improved Non-Alcoholic Bevarage Brands during this time period, listed consecutively, are Ocean Spray, Welch's, Minute Maid, Fiji, A&W, Vitamin Water, V8, Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy, and Monster.
Food and Snacks:
Three in ten grocery shoppers in the US say they bought more snacks during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the US, the increase in snacking rivaled that of the increased consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.
To emphasize snacking’s dominance over the last year, the two leading brands in the Food and Snacks category are known for their chocolates – Hershey’s and M&M’s. Reese’s, Ritz, Oreo and Lay’s are other notable snack brands that make the top ten this year.
Breakfast foods also fared well amid the pandemic and Quaker, Cheerios and Pillsbury all earn top spots within the Food and Snacks category.
The Top Improver in this category was Bumble Bee, which managed to increase its Index score by 3.1 points over the last year. The brand focused on increasing consumer awareness of tuna’s many benefits and uses in a range of recipes. Other Top Improved Food Brands & Snacks brands during this time period, listed respectively, are Cheerios, KIND, Nestlé Toll House, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Ritz, Snyder's, Ruffles, Smartfood, and Fairlife.
Get in touch to see YouGov's full list of FMCG/CPG Rankings 2021
Methodology: The brands in YouGov FMCG/CPG Rankings were ranked based on their Index score, which is a measure of overall brand health calculated by taking the average of Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation over a period of 12 months.
The rankings chart shows the brands with the highest average index score between August 1st 2020 until July 31st 2021. The scores are representative of the general population of adults 18+ (some are online representative).
All scores listed have been rounded to a single decimal place; however, we have used additional precision to assign ranks. All brands must have been tracked for at least six months in order to be eligible for inclusion in the rankings.
