Alcohol brand index 2019 Q2

Please note: This is not the most recent brand index. If you’re right where you want to be, read on. If you’re looking for the latest data, click here for our most recent brand indexes

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. However, in Q1 of each year we dive even deeper into the data to create an in-depth report on the state of the industry.

To jump straight to our 2019 alcohol brand index report, click below:

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

With ‘Generation Sensible’ continuing to drive down alcohol consumption in the youngest target audience for alcohol brands, drinks manufacturers must work harder than ever to remain popular, or diversify their offerings for lower and non-alcoholic options. As such, it’s vital for each alcohol brand to understand consumer perceptions around their brand and respond accordingly to cement their position in their chosen area, whether that’s as the most innovative brand, the trendiest, the highest quality or the most trustworthy.

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:

  • While Budweiser was a popular brand in Q1, taking three top places out of the eight attributes (for being the most fashionable brand, the best priced and offering the highest level of innovation), they lose all three titles this quarter. This time around, they sit decidedly in the middle of the table, with Jack Daniel’s becoming the most fashionable, Gordon’s the best priced, and Stella Artois the most innovative.
  • Baileys was also well-liked in Q1, receiving the highest weighted ranking for taste, quality and trustworthiness. In Q2, however, they don’t receive a high enough unprompted brand recall score to enter the top 10 leaderboard. Being well liked in three of the key attributes hasn’t been enough to keep this brand from suffering the seasonality of the sector; lighter drinks including beers and ciders have pushed Baileys from consumers’ front of mind.
  • This quarter, the biggest winner is Gordon’s. The brand has centuries of history behind it, teeing it up to be recognised by British consumers as the most trustworthy alcohol brand, with the most convenient access (in the most bars, pubs and shops). The brand also achieves a highly-desired place in the market, receiving the highest rating for both price and quality. Brands often have to choose whether to offer a low price and sacrifice the quality of their product, or charge more for a higher quality item. But Gordon’s, however, strikes the perfect balance down the middle, according to consumers.
  • At the other end of the scale, Q2 newcomer Guinness performs poorly in the eight attributes. They get the lowest weighted ranking for taste, being a fashionable brand, price, innovation, convenience and trust. Despite being well-recalled this quarter, they’re not recalled for all the right reasons.

Key takeaways

  • Just two lone brands keep their positions in the leaderboard from Q1 to Q2. Smirnoff at the very top of the pile remains unmoved for another consecutive quarter. A drop in NPS from 41.7 to 30.4 puts them in danger of being overtaken by other brands in future indexes, though.
  • Smirnoff will need to keep working on their NPS to avoid competition from Gordon’s in particular. The gin brand jumps from 4th to 2nd place overall in Q2, with rises in all three key metrics (unprompted brand recall, purchase intent and NPS) more than doubling their resulting total brand equity score, from 400 to 810.
  • It’s been a less favourable quarter for last quarter’s 2nd and 3rd place brands: Jack Daniel’s and Stella Artois. These two drop down a place in the leaderboard each, despite Jack Daniel’s taking the title as the most fashionable brand of the top 10, and Stella Artois being recognised as the most innovative.
  • The most improved brand from Q1 to Q2 is Carling, who jump from 9th place to 5th thanks to considerable lifts in all three key metrics. They haven’t done quite enough to become the most well-regarded beer brand of the top 10, though, with Stella Artois still ranking just marginally ahead.
  • Two new brands enter the leaderboard in Q2: Guinness who just slip into 10th spot, and Kopparberg who perform considerably better and enter in 6th spot. Though Kopparberg’s unprompted brand recall is only 2.9% (9th of the top 10), they are well-liked by the smaller number of people who recalled them first, giving them high purchase intent (5th of the top 10) and NPS (4th). These two brands push Baileys and Heineken from the top 10.

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.

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.

Attest

Content Team 

Our in-house marketing team is always scouring the market for the next big thing. This piece has been lovingly crafted by one of our team members. Attest's platform makes gathering consumer data as simple and actionable as possible.

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