Budweiser has claimed the top spot as the world’s most valuable beer brand for the first time, overtaking Bud Light, according to a new report by brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
Following the success of its 2018 Fifa World Cup sponsorship campaign, Budweiser’s brand value increased 6% from 2018 to reach $7.5 billion. The campaign, the brand’s most expensive to date, reached 3.2 billion football fans globally, facilitating accelerated growth in markets such as South Africa, Colombia, China and Australia.
However, according to Brand Finance, both Budweiser and Bud Light – the flagship beer brands of AB InBev – have seen a slowdown in brand value growth compared to previous years, in part due to declining beer consumption among millennials.
The AB InBev portfolio still dominates the rankings, however, with 11 brands claiming spots in the top 25, down from 13 last year.
China’s Snow is the fastest-growing brand in this year’s Brand Finance Beers 25 ranking and has broken into the top ten for the first time, with a 52% rise in brand value to $3.7 billion.
Snow is the best-selling beer in the world, clocking up 101.2 million hectolitres of beer sold per year, more than double that of Budweiser’s sales. The brand, which historically has only been sold in China, has made a number of strategic partnerships in order to raise its global presence, notably with Heineken and Molson Coors.
Tsingtao (up 49% to $1.7 billion) jumped up nine places in the ranking, more than any other brand.
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, said: “As you can see across this year’s ranking, it is the Asian, particularly Chinese, beer brands that are seeing the highest brand value growth. With demand for beer at an all-time high in China and predictions of inflated growth over the coming years as a result of greater disposable income from the emerging middle class, this trend looks set to continue.
“If these brands begin to expand beyond China and into new markets, we could potentially see some very stiff competition to established Western beer brands.”
Meanwhile, Scottish craft beer brand BrewDog is the highest new entrant in the ranking in 19th position, with a brand value of $1.5 billion. Now 11 years old, the brand is undertaking ambitious growth plans across key international markets, with new breweries and bars in the pipeline both at home in the UK and abroad.
Last year, BrewDog announced its foray into the hotels business, opening the doors to what it described as the world’s first craft beer hotel, The DogHouse.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024
