Building 2012 marketing muscle: The world's top 5 alcoholic drinks brands

1.Budweiser – $11.872bn, -3% (31)

‘Cautious optimism’ is the Interbrand watchword for Budweiser in the former's new Best Global Brands 2012 report (yesterday we covered non-alcoholic brands ) with a can redesign reflecting its repositioning as a contemporary global brand “moving away from its US- and heritage-based roots”.

Budweiser tops Interbrand's alcoholic brand tree, and the research firm said it had branched out beyond a Middle America comfort zone to a more urban audience.

Events such as the ‘Budweiser Made in America’ concert with rapper Jay-Z were paying-off, Interbrand said, with 44% of sales now outside the US.

“But as Budweiser’s global market grows, it continues to lose ground at home. It is now the third brand in its category in the US, behind Bud Light and Coors Light,” the analysts wrote.

“Although the rate of its US decline has reduced recently, can Budweiser become the world’s number one beer if it is not number one at home?” they asked.

Budweiser's weak spots?

Despite sponsoring world soccer and music events suiting its young male target demographic, and the September 2012 ‘Track your Bud’ campaign that tied beer origins to QR codes, Interbrand warned that the brand had some weak spots.

“Brand extensions Bud Select and Bud Select 55 didn’t take flight, and failing to update bottle packaging in line with new cans may confuse consumers,” Interbrand’s analysts wrote.

“Considering that Budweiser’s authentically American personality often drives its success in international markets, the brand must work hard to ensure that walking away from these roots to achieve immediate global growth doesn’t have the opposite effect in the long term.”

N.B. Throughout this gallery, the US dollar amount relates to the brand's global value; the first ranking position relates to the its position relative to other non-alcoholic drinks brands, the second (in brackets) its overall standing within Interbrand's report.

(Picture Copyrights: Budweiser, Frederick Dennstedt/Flickr; Moët et Chandon, Wesley Vieira Fonseca/Flickr)