Baijius Overtake Whisk(e)ys
Baijiu accounted for 23% of the total brand value of the Brand Finance Spirits 50 2016, behind Whisk(e)y on 37%. However this year, the tables have turned. Whisk(e)y’s share has dropped to 28% while Baijiu’s has surged to 37.5%. The world’s top Baiju brands now have a combined value of over $22 billion.
Every year, the world’s leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. The world’s 50 most valuable spirits brands are included in the Brand Finance Spirits 50 and the top 25 beer brands in the Brand Finance Beers 25.
After the Moutai Baijiu brand Johnnie Walker remains the world’s most valuable Whisk(e)y brand by a considerable margin despite a 2% value drop this year. Its $4.5 billion brand value keeps it in second place to Moutai ($11.5bn).
Irish whiskey brand Jameson moved up to 15th place from 21st place last year with a brand value set at $863 million, up from 2016’s $706m figure.
Baileys remains unchanged in 33rd place despite a 12% fall in brand value from $478 million to $423 million.
The world’s most valuable beer brand is Bud Light, the fastest-growing major beer brand this year, up 34% to $6.6 billion. Sister brand Budweiser is in second place at $5.9 billion, up 30% in brand value.
Heineken remains in third place, growing brand value by 22% to $5.2 billion. Heineken is a major global sponsor, particularly of sports and has a longstanding relationship with the UEFA Champions League. However Heineken is slowly shifting its focus away from football which it sees as ‘totally overcrowded’ with competitors brands making differentiation difficult, according to the report.
It is instead developing its involvement with F1 and has renewed its association with Rugby by announcing that it will be the headline sponsor of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Guinness holds onto eighth place with a brand value of $2.3 billion, up 5% from $2.2 billion.