How effective is investing in the brand?

Is it worth investing in the brand? USP Marketing Consultancy has looked at the aided brand awareness of 18 branded manufacturers as well as of private labels of retailers among European consumers. Reiner Zuydgeest, managing consultant, has summarised the results for seven product categories:

Grohe and Villeroy & Boch are two of the best-known brands for bathroom products in Europe. These brands are mentioned in the top 5 of brands in eight European countries. More than 55 per cent of European consumers know Grohe in the researched European countries, except for Denmark, France and Spain, where this percentage is lower. The brand awareness of Villeroy & Boch differs according to country and varies between 30 per cent and 70 per cent.Hansgrohe and Geberit are mentioned in four European countries. Hansgrohe has a brand awareness among European consumers of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent. For Geberit the brand awareness is between 30 per cent and 65 per cent in the countries where Geberit is mentioned in the top 5.

Many brands from AkzoNobel and PPG are mentioned in this category. These manufacturers have a broad brand portfolio and make use of different brand names in each country. Regarding the specific brands, Dulux is mentioned in four countries. This is especially the case in Poland and the UK, where there is a high brand awareness (more than 80 per cent). Private labels from retailers like Obi and Gamma are also mentioned in the category 'Paint'.

3M is mentioned in all researched countries. In every country 3M is mentioned in the top 5 with at least 30 per cent aided awareness. Scotch is mentioned in ten countries and has an aided brand awareness of 69 per cent in Italy. Tesa is mentioned in almost all countries and is the best known brand in Austria and Germany with 60 per cent aided brand awareness.

Velux is clearly the best known brand in the category of roof daylight solutions, mentioned in all countries as the best known brand. Roto is mentioned in eight countries, but the highest brand awareness of Roto is 12 per cent in Germany. Roofland is mentioned in six European countries. The aided brand awareness of Roofland is highest in the UK (11 per cent).

Yale mentioned in eight countries and has the highest aided brand awareness in the UK (71 per cent). In the other countries it is about 40 per cent. Abus is mentioned in six countries and has the highest aided brand awareness in Germany (50 per cent). In the rest of the countries, this share is lower.

Pattex is mentioned in seven countries and has a relatively high aided brand awareness. In some countries Pattex is the best known brand. In other countries Pattex is not the best known brand but still has an aided brand awareness of at least 60 per cent. UHU is mentioned in four countries and has a high brand awareness of more than 70 per cent in Austria and Germany. Bostik is mentioned in four countries and has a high brand awareness of around 70 per cent in Italy and the UK.

Bosch and Black & Decker have the highest aided brand awareness in the tools market. Bosch is mentioned in all researched countries. In most of the countries, 80 per cent of the consumers know Bosch. Black & Decker is also mentioned in eleven countries, but fewer consumers know this brand. Kärcher is mentioned in ten countries. In most of the countries, the brand awareness is between 60 per cent and 70 per cent, except for the Netherlands and Spain, where this share is lower.

All in all, different brands are mentioned in all categories, but it is clear that the branding efforts pay off for manufacturers in the home improvement market. The effectiveness of these efforts depends on the country and the market the manufacturer is active in. In some of the categories where USP Marketing Consultancy has measured the aided brand awareness, there are one or two best-known brands and in other categories this market seems to be more divided. The larger manufacturers could use many brand names or they could use one umbrella brand. That is one of the considerations for European manufacturers when developing a strategy.