Alcohol brand index 2019 Q3

Every quarter we survey British consumers on their brand awareness and preferences in relation to the alcohol industry. Our latest insights into this industry are detailed in this article. 

To compile this quarter’s alcohol brand Index below, we looked at three things:

• Percentage of unprompted brand recall within the alcohol category
• How likely a person is to purchase each brand (purchase intent)
• How likely a person is to recommend each brand (Net Promoter Score)

Key changes in brand attributes

Times are changing for the alcohol industry. For starters, today’s young people are drinking far less alcohol than their predecessors, meaning brands are having to rethink their products, innovate, and get more creative with their marketing. The growing trend of alcohol-free beer is just one way that drinks manufacturers are changing things up to meet new demands and get their younger target market onboard – but it doesn’t stop there. In volatile times, positive public sentiment is essential for alcohol brands, and so is the ability to measure it. 

Each quarter we ask consumers to rank the top 10 alcohol brands they’ve named in eight category-specific attributes. Here are the main winners, losers and movers this quarter:

• Budweiser have had a bit of a tumultuous year so far. In Q1, they ranked first for three of eight attributes, but dropped from all rankings in Q2. In Q3, they’ve climbed back up again, snatching first place for being the best priced, the most innovative, and the best quality brand of the top 10. Whether they’re basking in the glow of a beer-garden-filled English summer, or their innovations are making the public take note, it’s a marked improvement on last quarter.
• Guinness have also seen improvements in Q3. Last quarter, they ranked in last place for six of the eight brand attributes – consumers thought they had the worst taste, the worst price, and the lowest convenience, and they were considered the least fashionable, the least innovative, and the least trustworthy brand. This quarter, they’ve scored quite neutrally across the board (though they’ve held onto that last place spot for price). They also ranked second place for quality, just 0.38% behind Budweiser.
• Heineken are back in the top 10 after falling off in Q2. But they’ve claimed half of the last place spots for key brand attributes – they ranked worst for taste, convenience, and being a fashionable brand, as well as joint worst for brand trust, along with Fosters.
• In Q3, Gordon’s have held onto their first place position for brand trust, but lost it for convenience and quality (to Carlsberg and Budweiser respectively). They did, however, claim the crown for taste. Aside from their win for convenience, Carlsberg have also nabbed the top spot for memorable branding, which may have contributed to their reappearance in the top 10 this quarter.

Key Takeaways

• Despite some change in key stats, the top two spots in the leaderboard remain unchanged, with Smirnoff and Gordon’s holding onto their positions. Gordon’s in particular has emerged into Q3 with a significantly lower total brand equity and purchase intent than in Q2. Their NPS remains the highest on the board, though – if it wasn’t for Smirnoff’s high unprompted brand recall, they might’ve nabbed the top spot.
• It’s the battle of the beers this quarter, as Kopparberg and Strongbow, renowned for their ciders, drop from the board. They’ve been replaced by newcomers Carlsberg, coming in seventh, and Heineken, coming in joint eighth with Fosters.
• Budweisers has rocketed through the rankings this quarter, from eighth in Q2 to third in Q3. They’ve seen impressive increases in all of their key metrics, with their NPS climbing from 28.1 to 36.8, and their purchase intent increasing from 46.9% to 68.4% – a score not to be sniffed at. Guinness have also come leaps and bounds from last quarter, rising from the very bottom of the ranks to a solid sixth place. Their purchase intent (71.4%) is the highest of the top 10.
• Plenty of brands have moved down a spot or two in Q3. Jack Daniel’s have dropped from third to fourth, knocked down a peg by Budweiser, and have suffered a 210 point drop in their total brand equity. Stella Artois have seen an increase in all of their key metrics, but have also fallen one spot from fourth to fifth this quarter. Carling is the brand that’s seen the biggest drop, falling from fifth place to tenth – this is largely due to a huge drop in NPS, which has gone from 32.4 in Q2 to -2.9 in Q3. They’ll need to work on bringing that up if they want to cling onto the leaderboard next quarter. 

The Full Report

The report includes:

• The UK’s leading alcohol brands for awareness, purchase intent and Net Promoter Score
• Overall brand strength and total brand equity index
• Industry averages and market dynamics
• Key takeaways for the UK alcohol industry

The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1000 people in the UK (aged 18+), surveyed in January 2019. 

Click to view research

Brand index methodology

The Attest brand index is a platform agnostic measure of a brand’s total brand equity in the alcohol sector, as determined by real consumers.

What does that mean?

When we say ‘platform agnostic’, we mean the results are not influenced by any particular method of obtaining them, like looking exclusively at social media mentions or at brand search terms. This reduces bias and gives us a much more accurate view of a brand’s strength in their category.

Learn more about why we think this is the best methodology for brand Intelligence.

Brand index data is gathered every quarter from a nationally representative survey to 1,000 UK consumers aged 18-65.