Do-it-Yourself Brands Winning in Tough Economic Times

Information Resources Inc (IRI) reported its findings on the most popular new food and beverage and new non-food brands. The results indicate further how consumers are adapting their lifestyles to save money and realize value during difficult economic times. 

The results in a nutshell indicate the following:

• While some premium brands like Starbucks are suffering, brands seen as quality value brands such as Dunkin' Donuts Coffee (which was the 2nd of the top 10 food and beverage brands) have performed very well.
• Also in the food and beverage category, brands that cater to the health conscious seem to be doing very well as evidenced by Gatorade's G2 occupying the top spot in the top 10 and Progresso Light taking the third spot).
• Consumers are trying d-i-y products at home in many instances versus going to a professional first. For example the Ped Egg is on the top-ten list of non-food brands showing that pedicures on the home are on the rise. Not good news for spas but nonetheless people still want to be pampered even if they have to or choose to do it themselves.

The top 10 brands for Food and Beverage were as follows:

1. Gatorade G2
2. Dunkin' Donuts Coffee
3. Healthy Choice Cafe' Steamers
4. Progresso Light
5. Hormel Compleats
6. Digiorno Ultimate
7. Smirnoff Ice Flavors
8. Pepsi Max
9. Tyson Any'Tizers
10. Diritos Collisions

The top 10 brands for new non-food products were:

1. Zyrtec
2. Alli
3. Charmin Ultra Strong
4. Ped Egg
5. Secret Clinical Strength
6. MiraLax
7. Dawn PLUS
8. CoverGirl LashBlast
9. Maybelline Define
10. Tidy Pure Essentials

Bottom line: brands that show value and or innovate in these economic times have a better chance of prospering.