The report revealed a divide between top performers and others; 76% of Index brands fell in the 'Average' category or below.
According to L2, this year’s study also had few 'Gifted and Genius' brands, twelve and two respectively, placing Nivea and the other Genius Aveda as one forward-thinkers in the category.
Beiersdorf’s skin care brand is also one of the few to use Facebook successfully, the market researcher reports.
"It solicits feedback for new product launches with rewards for participants. Just last month, Nivea launched the user-generated, cross-promoted #BringItOn campaign, asking users to share life milestones and adventurous moments with the hashtag," analysts explain.
Social media success
Nivea is sold in over 200 countries and alongside L’Oreal is the most ‘liked’ on social networking site Facebook in the EU-5; the five main markets in Europe.
The well-known brand is the top performer with its regional names in the UK and Italy, whilst it only plays second fiddle to L’Oréal Paris in Spain, and Maybelline in Germany.
France is the only market to knock it down to fourth spot; but it has still generated over 190,000 Facebook ‘likes’.
Bringing the brand back to its' roots has boosted demand
Beiersdorf recently teamed up with Yves Behar's fuse project with the goal of taking the 102-year-old brand back to its classic roots.
According to Behar, the blue tin wasn’t just the basis of the design, but also a source of inspiration to the designers.
The crème tin is used as a logo, reflected in the rounded contours of the new packs and in the reduced blue and white colours of the new design.
The round lid, which tilts towards the consumer, embossed with the brand logo, has obvious similarities with the iconic blue tin providing a “familiar face” on the shelf.
“Design is important because it adds value to an object’s function,” says Béhar. “Unlike many other skin care brands, Nivea isn’t geared to a specific culture, gender or age group.”
The new design language is an aspect of the new overall brand strategy focusing on sustainable and profitable growth for the Nivea product family which was recently announced by CEO Stefan F. Heidenreich.