SCA Receives 7th Russian Product of the Year Award for Zewa Toilet Tissue

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SCA, Stockholm, Sweden, has for the seventh year in a row received the Product of the Year/Товар года award in Russia for Zewa toilet paper. SCA also received for the first time an award for its Zewa handkerchiefs.

"We are especially proud to receive this prestigious award in the hanky category, as this is a relatively new category for Russian consumers," said Peter Steiner, marketing director at SCA for consumer goods in Eastern Europe.

"In 2011 the volume market share of hankies, our distribution in Russian cities and sales grew significantly, Olga Gutnikova, brand manager for handkerchiefs and facial tissue at SCA, added.
One of the recipes for the growth was to introduce individual pack sales of Zewa hankies. "By allowing consumers to buy just a single pack, we encourage them to try the new product so that they can buy the entire package if the product meets their expectations," SCA explained.

Another factor is visualization in the stores. "We created several colorful dispensers, which helped to attract consumers’ attention and place the product in cross-categories such as hankies for kids next to the Libero diapers," Victoria Gushina, head of the SCA trade marketing team in Russia, said.

During 2011, primary focus has been shifting the consumers’ preferences towards the more premium Zewa Deluxe 3-ply toilet paper, according to SCA. The company’s national promotional campaign ("For those who want more!") to support Zewa Deluxe tissue proved to be very successful. Not only do it increase the sales volume of 3-ply toilet paper Zewa Deluxe, but it also strengthened the consumer brand loyalty to Zewa, SCA pointed out.

Among winners of the Product of the Year/Товар года award in other FMCG categories were Unilever, Schwarzkopf, and Coca-Cola. This rating of the consumer preferences was launched at the end of the 1990s. The award is given in the product categories that are frequently purchased at the retail chains. To select finalists, the independent rating agency tracks demand dynamics throughout the year based on ComCon and Nielsen data and other research companies, researches, and representatives of the key retail chains.