National consumer study reveals Canada's most trusted CPG brands as voted by 45,000+ Canadians

Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, Household and Kids Consumer Packaged Goods brands
named in 133 Categories

TORONTO, March 21, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, leading market research firm BrandSpark International announced the 2016 BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards winners for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands. More than 45,000 Canadians determined the winners – Canada's most trusted CPG brands – in 133 categories based on the annual BrandSpark Canadian Shopper Study.

"Whether buying products for a new baby, treating a headache, choosing the right acne product or even which brand of pasta to buy, shoppers want to make sure they are bringing products from trusted brands into their homes. Now shoppers can find out which brands were most trusted by other shoppers in a national survey," said Robert Levy, President and CEO of BrandSpark International. "The annual BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards honours the brands Canadians trust most, those they would recommend to friends and neighbours. This award boosts shopper confidence when making a purchase decision in store aisles."

What drives brand trust?

"Canada's top CPG brands, the ones that dominate in their categories, have built consumer trust by offering a positive and consistent product experience. They frequently build on this trust with meaningful innovation while maintaining a perception of strong value," said Levy. "These brands also offer a product experience that appeals to a vast majority of consumers in their category."

Innovation can help relatively newer brands rise to the top, such as Febreze for air freshener, GreenWorks for eco-friendly cleaning products), and Keurig for coffee machines. In addition to product innovation expanding their product category can also aid in building consumer trust; for example Finish for dishwasher cleaner.

Sixty-six per cent of Canadians will try new products from the brands they trust the most. Seventy-four per cent of Canadians try to purchase their most trusted brand names when they're on sale versus purchasing the generic or store brand versions. Interestingly 45% of Canadians say that they are less loyal to brands than they were in the past. "The fact that Canadians are becoming less brand loyal makes it more important for marketers to remind shoppers of the trusted relationship they and other shoppers enjoyed with the brand's products," added Levy.

Consumers trust brands that respond to problems quickly and transparently, and those they perceive as fair and ethical. While some shoppers will look for support of charitable causes; many perceive respect for the consumer in a fair consistent price.

"Today's shoppers are looking for content and information that is authentic and relevant to them, at their life stage and mindset" said Levy. "Targeted marketing with targeted messaging effectively addresses the unique concerns of different shoppers and increases their interest and confidence in a brand. Speaking to consumers in a way that resonates with their mindset helps to create the emotional response that builds a foundation for a deeper level of trust."

Ultimately shoppers want to maximize a product's benefits, but they won't take risks on new products or brands without a compelling reason to do so. "Brands need to continue to provide consumers with reasons to believe in the superior performance or value of their products, and increasingly that is coming from the recommendation of other consumers," added Levy.

Canadians most loyal to kids' and pets' brands

While trust is important to any purchase decision, the importance varies for different types of products. Trust is most important for baby and children's products and pet food, where 75% of Canadians regularly buy the same brand name products. Seventy per cent of Canadians remain loyal to their top brand of deodorant or antiperspirant, toothpaste, and facial moisturizer ahead of other personal care categories. For groceries, more than 60% of Canadians regularly remain loyal to their cereal, tea, cheese, and Mexican food brands. For health and beauty products such as hair colour, make-up foundation, vitamins and shampoo, BrandSpark reports 60% of Canadians remain loyal to their top brands.

Survey participants named the brands that they consider their most trusted in 133 product categories. New categories in the 2016 study include sugar substitutes, instant rice, dishwasher cleaner, eco-friendly cleaners, tooth pain relief, protein supplements, LED light bulbs, instant coffee, teeth whitening, weight loss programs and more are indicated by an asterisk (*). More details can be found at www.BrandSparkMostTrusted.com. Following is the complete list of BrandSpark Most Trusted Award winners.

Canada's 2016 Most Trusted - Food & Beverage Brands
CATEGORY	BRAND
Alcoholic Cider	Strongbow
Alcoholic Cooler	Smirnoff
Baking	Robin Hood
Beer	Molson
Bread	Dempster's
Canned Fish	Clover Leaf
Cereal	Kellogg's
Cereal Bar/Granola Bar	Nature Valley / Quaker (tie)
Cheese	Kraft
Chocolate	Lindt
Coffee	Maxwell House
Cottage Cheese*	Dairyland
Dips & Savoury Spreads*	Philadelphia
Energy Bar	Clif Bar
Energy Drink	Gatorade
Frozen Fish	High Liner
Frozen Pizza	Dr. Oetker
Gum	Excel
Hummus*	Fontaine Santé / Sabra (tie)
Ice Cream	Chapman's
Instant Coffee	Nescafé
Instant Rice*	Uncle Ben's
Juice	Tropicana
Ketchup	Heinz
Mayonnaise	Hellmann's
Mexican Food*	Old El Paso
Mustard	French's
Packaged Meat	Maple Leaf
Pasta	Catelli
Pasta Sauce	Hunts
Soft Drink	Coca-Cola
Sour Cream*	Gay Lea
Sugar Substitute / Sweetener*	Splenda
Yogurt	Danone
Canada's 2016 Most Trusted – Health & Beauty Brands
Acne Treatment	Clean & Clear
Adhesive Bandages*	Band Aid
Adult Incontinence	Poise
Adult Sunscreen	Coppertone
Adult Vitamin*	Centrum
Allergy Relief	Reactine
Antacid	Tums
Anti-Aging Facial Care	Olay
Arthritis Pain Relief*	Tylenol
Bar Soap	Dove
Body Moisturizer	Aveeno
Body Wash	Dove
Cold Sore Remedy	Abreva
Condom	Trojan
Contact Lens Solution	Bausch & Lomb
Cough & Cold Remedy	Buckley's
Cough Drop*	Halls
Diarrhea Remedy*	Imodium
Electric Shaver*	Philips Norelco
Electric Toothbrush*	Oral-B
Facial Cleanser	Neutrogena / Olay (tie)
Facial Wipes	Neutrogena / Olay (tie)
Fever & Flu Medication*	Tylenol
Feminine Sanitary Product	Always
Fish Oil or Omega-3 Supplements*	Jamieson
Foundation	CoverGirl
Green Food Supplements*	Genuine Health
Hair Colour	L'Oréal
Hair Removal	Nair
Hair Styling	Pantene / TRESemmé (tie)
Hair Treatment	L'Oréal
Hand Soap	Dove
Headache Pain Relief*	Tylenol
Insect Repellant	Off!
Laxative*	Dulcolax
Lip Balm	Blistex
Lip Colour*	Revlon
Manual Toothbrush*	Oral-B
Mascara	CoverGirl / Maybelline (tie)
Men's Antiperspirant-Deodorant	Old Spice
Men's Body Wash*	Dove
Men's Shampoo & Conditioner	Head & Shoulders
Men's Shaving	Gillette
Men's Skin Care	Dove
Mouthwash	Listerine
Nutritional Supplements*	Jamieson
Pregnancy Test	Clearblue / First Response (tie)
Protein Supplements*	Vega
Sensitive skin care (for dry and problematic skin)*	Aveeno
Sensitive Toothpaste	Sensodyne
Skin Health Supplements*	Jamieson
Sleep Aid	Sleep-Eze / Vicks (tie)
Smoke Cessation	Nicorette
Teeth Whitening*	Crest
Toothpaste	Colgate / Crest (tie)
Topical Pain Relief	Voltaren
Weight Loss Program*	Weight Watchers
Weight Management Supplements*	PGX
Women's Antiperspirant-Deodorant	Secret
Women's Facial Skin Care	Olay
Women's Shampoo & Conditioner	Pantene
Women's Shaving	Gillette
Canada's 2016 Most Trusted – Household Brands
Air Freshener	Febreze
Bathroom Tissue	Royale
Battery	Duracell
Blender / Juicer*	Ninja
Cat Food	Purina
Cat Litter	Purina
Cleaning Aids*	Mr. Clean
Coffee Machine	Keurig
Dish Soap	Dawn
Dishwasher Cleaner*	Finish
Dishwasher Detergent Pods*	Cascade / Finish (tie)
Dog Food	Purina
Dog Treat	Milk-Bone
Drain Cleaner	Drano
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products*	Greenworks
Fabric Softener	Downy
Flea & Tick Control	Bayer
Food Storage	Ziploc
Garbage Bag	Glad
Household Cleaning	Mr. Clean
Laundry Detergent	Tide
Laundry Stain Remover	Resolve
LED Light Bulbs	General Electric
Paint	Benjamin Moore
Paper Towel	Bounty
Vacuum Cleaner	Dyson
Canada's 2016 Most Trusted – Kids Brands
Baby Food	Heinz
Baby Formula	Enfamil / Similac (tie)
Baby Wipe	Huggies
Baby/Toddler Shampoo & Wash	Johnson & Johnson
Children's Allergy Medication	Benadryl
Children's Toy	Fisher Price
Children's Vitamin	Flintstones
Diaper	Pampers
Infant/Children's Pain & Fever Medication	Tylenol
Kids Sunscreen	Coppertone
Kids Toothpaste	Colgate

How winners are determined

More than 45,000 respondents participated in the BrandSpark Canadian Shopper Study between November 2015 and March 2016, reflecting the profile of the Canadian household shopper. The BrandSpark Most Trusted Award winners were determined through shoppers' "top of mind" responses for categories in which they purchase. BrandSpark researchers analyzed the unaided responses and the reasons for trusting the brand. The results were ranked based on the greatest volume of mentions, and if the difference between brands was less than 1%, ties were declared. BrandSpark also conducts the study in the United States.

About BrandSpark International

BrandSpark International is a leading brand, marketing and product innovation research company.
With deep expertise in consumer packaged goods, BrandSpark has a global perspective about what drives innovation unlike any other research company, and understands the insights and content that brands need to launch and support new products. BrandSpark runs North America's most credible consumer voted awards program for new products, the Best New Product Awards, and generates new product reviews, certified claims and insights through its new shopper engagement platform, Shopper Army. For more information, visit www.BrandSpark.com.

SOURCE BrandSpark International

BrandSpark International: Robert Levy, President, [email protected]; Philip Scrutton, Director, Consumer Insights, [email protected]; For interview requests, please contact: Jefferson Darrell & Associates (JDA) at [email protected]