The International Top 30

You’re only as strong as your brands. And, having a smart brand strategy is vital for any consumer goods company, especially for those fighting for shelf space and market share in the highly competitive household and personal products industry.
   
From everyday staples like deodorant to luxury fragrances, a brand can signify value, it can signify quality and it can signify stature—which is proving especially important in markets outside the U.S. and Europe where income levels are on the rise and greater choice can be found on store shelves.
   
Throughout this year’s International Top 30 article, you can find examples of how savvy brand strategy has led to success today and—as our Top 30 companies see it—growth tomorrow.  A keen focus on key brands has helped propel many of the companies we profile on the following pages. Through R&D and marketing investment, companies are nurturing their most-recognized (and coveted) brands. For some, that means a formulation change that enables a 100-year-old detergent brand to keep pace with environmental/energy concerns. While for others, it might require tweaking a product’s fragrance or positioning to be more attractive to a local market.
   
But success doesn’t always mean cultivating brands. Sometimes it’s about cutting them loose. If a brand isn’t pulling its weight, or doesn’t exhibit true global potential in today’s marketplace, it is often cast aside by management, put up for sale or set adrift in the marketing department with little to no support. With fuel and raw materials costs rising, money and manpower can’t be wasted on underperformers.
   
Still, some see value in these wayward brands. Lornamead, which ranks No. 28 in this year’s report, has built a sizeable business by acquiring orphaned brands, proving that one company’s “trash” can be another company’s treasure.
   
Unilever ranks at the top our list once again, with sales of more than $25 billion in 2007. But L’Oréal is closing the gap at $23.3 billion. (The two might even flip positions next year if Unilever sheds its U.S. detergent operations and L’Oréal finds success with its newly acquired luxury cosmetics and fragrances.) The remaining firms in the top 10 include Henkel, Kao, Reckitt Benckiser, Beiersdorf, Shiseido, LVMH, Lion and Chanel.