CHEERS! – Most valuable beer brands 2019

In June 2019, Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation consultancy with offices all over the world published its annual report ‘Beers 25 2019’ which lists the world’s most valuable beer brands – and found Budweiser’s brand value was USD 7.5 billion.

With outside temperatures of well over 30° Celsius (over 86° Fahrenheit) and the sun shining for days in a row (which is rather unusual here in Germany), it is not always easy to sit at your desk in the office and not wish you were in a nice Biergarten with a cool drink enjoying life. Some people in California obviously had the same thoughts and introduced the International Beer Day in 2008. It is celebrated on the first Friday in August and has the intention that everybody have a good time with friends enjoying a delicious beer, show appreciation to the people who brew and serve beer, and that the world be united on that special day by celebrating the beers of all nations and cultures.

What does that have to do with trademarks and intellectual property? Well, for us here in Germany and in particular in Bavaria, beer is one of the oldest cultural assets (in 2017, Germans consumed an average 101.2 liters of beer) and “Bayerisches Bier” (Bavarian Beer) is even protected as a geographical indication at the German Patent and Trademark Office under Registration No. 31 2012 000 102.4.

At the end of July 2019, a new brand valuation report was published, listing the world’s most valuable beer trademarks. It is based on the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. The likely future revenues of a brand, the brand value, are calculated by (1) determining brand strength based on marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance and (2) by asking which royalty rate could be asked for in the open market for use of the brand, meaning which net economic benefit would a licensor be able to achieve by licensing the brand.

According to the report, Belgian brewing giant AB InBev dominates the list with 11 brands in the top 25. The list is led by “Budweiser” which overtook long-standing leader “Bud Light” for the first time. Budweiser’s brand value is estimated at USD 7.5 billion and is, according to Brand Finance, mainly due to the product’s “immense success of its global sponsorship campaign of the 2018 FIFA World Cup [which] reached 3.2 billion fans globally” making it easier for AB InBev to grow in new markets like South Africa, Colombia, China and Australia.

However, the report also states that currently, it is particularly the Chinese beer brands that are seeing the highest and fastest growth in value. Hong Kong based “Snow” beer is the fastest-growing brand in the chart with 51.8% growth over the last year and a brand value of about USD 3.67 billion, followed by Chinese brand “Tsingtao” jumping up nine places with a brand value change of 48.9% and an estimated USD 1.7 billion worth. “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.” says David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance in its report.

While there is still a general decline in beer consumption and an increasing preference for alcohol-free alternatives, all contributing to a slowdown in brand value growth of beer compared to previous years, the Brand Finance report is a good summary of the importance of trademarks and brands – which, in the beverages sector, can attribute to a company’s net worth with over 80% (!). Thus, Cheers!

The full report can be found at https://brandirectory.com/reports/beers-25-2019-2.

And by the way, should you be no beer lover, maybe another food celebration day is more of your taste. The following are just a couple of food days listed on Wikipedia:

• Pancake Day, 47 days before Easter
• World Nutella Day, 5 February
• International Carrot Day, 4 April
• World Cake Day, 7 May
• International Hummus Day, 13 May
• World Milk Day, 1 June
• International Sushi Day, 18 June
• World Vegetarian Day, 1 October
• World Porridge Day, 10 October
• World Pasta Day, 25 October

Whatever your favorite may be, enjoy! :-)

For more information on how to protect and develop your brand, you are welcome to contact us at info@lexdellmeier.com or by phone at 0049 89 55879870.