WHISKY SECTOR DOMINATES THE POWER 100, 2011 SURVEY OF WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL DRINKS BRANDS – Whisky News
WHISKY SECTOR DOMINATES THE POWER 100, 2011 SURVEY OF WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL DRINKS BRANDS
• Scottish brands dominate global whisky sector
• Johnnie Walker remains world’s most dominant whisky brand
• America contributes five whisky brands to The Power 100
• Jameson is the only Irish whisky brand to feature
Whisky brands continue to dominate the annual The Power 100 table of the world’s leading alcoholic drinks brands, published this week by brand valuation and strategy consultancy Intangible Business, contributing more than a quarter of the brands in the survey.
Whisky has retained its sector dominance in the global alcoholic drinks industry, ahead of vodka, rum/cane, flavoured spirits, and still light wine. There are 26 whisky brands included in the table, with six brands – Johnnie Walker at 3, Jack Daniel’s at 6, Chivas Regal at 8, Ballantine’s at 10, Dewar’s at 14 and Jim Beam at 19 – in the overall Top 20.
Johnnie Walker posted an impressive performance this year with volumes growing by a striking 11%, due in large part to its penetration of Far East markets, Korea and China in particular, whose economies were less affected by the recession. This is a complete reversal of its performance the previous year where volumes fell by 11%. Because of this change in direction and improvement in the brand score by 4%, Johnnie Walker managed to grow its total score.
The Power 100 includes 16 Scotch whisky brands, five American brands and four Canadian brands. Jameson is the only Irish whiskey brand in The Power 100, at number eight in the sector and at number 22 overall, on the back of a 2% rise in its overall year on year score. The most improved whisky brand in this year’s The Power 100 is Clan MacGregor at number 82 overall and number 25 in the sector, having posted a 12% improvement in its brand score.
Intangible Business, which works extensively in the drinks industry, researched nearly 10,000 spirit and wine brands across the globe to produce The Power 100, now in its fifth year.
The league table, which assesses both the financial contribution of each brand alongside its strength in the eyes of the consumer, has been compiled by combining scores from a panel of some of the world’s leading drinks industry experts with hard data. The brands are rated according to share of market, future growth, premium price position, awareness, relevance, heritage and brand perception.
Rank Brand Overall Rank Total score 2011 Change Brand score 2011 Change
1 JOHNNIE WALKER 3 75% 1% 83% 4%
2 JACK DANIEL’S 6 39% 1% 81% 2%
3 CHIVAS REGAL 8 31% 2% 73% 5%
4 BALLANTINES 10 25% -2% 65% 0%
5 DEWARS 14 18% 2% 53% 2%
6 JIM BEAM 19 16% -3% 60% -4%
7 CROWN ROYAL 21 14% 1% 60% 4%
8 JAMESON 22 13% 2% 70% 5%
9 GRANT’S 23 13% 3% 50% -1%
10 J&B 27 12% -3% 55% -2%
11 FAMOUS GROUSE 40 8% 0% 58% 0%
12 SEAGRAM’S 7 CROWN 54 6% 1% 40% -3%
13 BELL’S 55 6% 0% 47% 0%
14 CANADIAN CLUB 59 5% 0% 55% 1%
15 MAKER’S MARK 62 5% 0% 63% 2%
16 TEACHER’S 63 5% 0% 51% 0%
17 GLENFIDDICH 65 5% 0% 64% 2%
18 BLACK VELVET 66 4% 0% 42% 0%
19 WILLIAM LAWSON’S 71 4% 0% 43% 0%
20 CLAN CAMPBELL 72 4% 0% 40% -2%
21 CANADIAN MIST 73 3% 0% 38% -3%
22 100 PIPERS 75 3% -1% 38% -1%
23 CUTTY SARK 79 3% 0% 50% 4%
24 THE GLENLIVET 80 3% 0% 63% 3%
25 CLAN MACGREGOR 82 3% 0% 51% 12%
26 WILD TURKEY 100 2% 0% 53% -2%
Overall, Smirnoff tops The Power 100 table again having achieved an overall score of 88.9%, giving it a significant margin over the other brands that make up the top ten.
Bacardi, the number one rum brand and number two in the overall The Power 100, edged Johnnie Walker into 3rd place, but was comfortably ahead of Martini Vermouth in 4th place and Absolut in 5th place.
The USA is the country with the most brands in The Power 100 with 17 brands, led by Jack Daniel’s, Gallo and Jim Beam; Scotland has 16 brands in The Power 100, led by Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s, and France with 14 brands, led by Hennessy, Moet et Chandon and Ricard.
Stuart Whitwell, Joint Managing Director of Intangible Business, comments: “The whisky industry has posted another strong performance this year with more than double the number brands in the top 100 than any other category and continues to connect to new and existing audiences, particularly in emerging markets, with innovative and relevant marketing.
Whitwell continues: “Although not in the top ten in the sector, it’s great to see brands like The Glenlivet among our overall star performers this year.”
About The Power 100
Methodology
Nearly 10,000 brands in the spirits and wine sectors were researched to derive a list of the 100 most powerful spirits and wine brands in the world. Power is defined by a brand’s ability to generate value for its owner. Value is classified by a series of measures as identified below. The population for the research is all current and potential users of alcoholic drinks.
Scoring
Hard Measures
Share of market: volume-based measure of market share Brand growth: projected growth based on 10 years’ historical data and future trends Price Positioning:a measure of a brand’s ability to command a premium Market Scope: number of markets in which the brand has a significant presence
Soft Measures
Brand Awareness: a combination of prompted and spontaneous awareness Brand Relevancy: capacity to relate to the brand and a propensity to purchase Brand Heritage: a brand’s longevity and a measure of how it is embedded in local culture Brand Perception: loyalty and how close a strong brand image is to a desire for ownership
A panel of 10 leading experts in the drinks industry independently ranked each selected brand out of 10 on the above measures (10 = high, 0 = low). The scores given by the individual panel members were aggregated and averaged to reach a total score for each brand. A total score was achieved by multiplying a brand’s weighted volume by its brand score, within a defined range. The weighting is designed to adjust the volumes to a comparable level. Brand score is a derivate of the 8 measures of brand strength. This results in a ranking of the world’s most powerful alcoholic drinks brands.
About Intangible Business
Intangible Business was established in 2001 to provide an independent approach to brand valuation, brand strategy and brand development. As well as experts in brand valuation, Intangible Business is now an internationally recognised leader in all IP valuation, including copyright valuation, trademark valuation, valuing websites, valuing databases and software.
Brand value, along with other intangible assets such as patents, copyrights, licenses and intellectual property, is often a company’s most valuable asset. Given this importance, a brand valuation is critical to fully understand and monitor brand equity and to identify opportunities to realize growth potential. In legal issues, such as trademark disputes, or brand transactions such as M&A and licensing, a sound brand valuation can also help you make more informed decisions or negotiate better deals.
What qualifies Intangible Business in brand valuation is its global network of people who all focus on brand valuation from various complementary angles – brands and marketing, finance and accounting, brand management and brand strategy. This focus draws on many years’ experience, both in business and as brand consultants and has been of measurable benefit to some of the world’s biggest brands.
