Bud crowned king beer brand

Bud: the 'Official World Cup beer'

Budweiser tops global beer brands list

The brand value of European beers such as Heineken and Stella is being eroded while that of Budweiser, the biggest name in the world of beer today, is soaring.

So says the Brand Finance Global 500 survey, which places Bud as the 15th most valuable brand in the world today. The report, released today, puts Bud’s worth at $21,279 million, up 27% on last year.

“Budweiser, with its global brand status and iconic advertising, continues to dominate the beer sector,” said David Hugh, chief executive of brand valuation agency Brand Finance.

“Foster’s and Corona both have well defined brand positions based on their geographical origins and have out-performed Amstel and Stella.”

According to the report, an 11% rise in brand value was not enough to stop Heineken, the world’s number-two beer brand, sliding 19 places to the 62 spot.

Corona increased its brand value by 53% and rose 37 places to 184, making it the third most valuable beer brand today.

Foster’s, a newcomer to the 500, is in fourth place in front of Stella and Amstel, which dropped 93 and 53 places respectively.

Carlsberg is the seventh and final beer to make it into the 500 at spot 372, with a value of $2,252 million.

The report names Bud as the 2nd most valuable beverage brand in the world after Coca-Cola, which is in third place after first-placed Walmart and Google.

Bud is set to raise its profile further this year as the official beer of the football World Cup in South Africa.

Brand-owner A-B InBev told BG this month that it planned to import the vast volumes of Bud it hopes to sell at the event, rather than brew the beer locally under licence.

The sponsorship gives A-B InBev sole pouring rights in South Africa’s stadiums and will put Bud in the gaze of millions of football fans during the event.

However the brewer has failed to secure supply to the huge fan parks that will be set up around the country during the event, giving rival SABMiller, with dominance of 90% of the South African market, access to some 7 million throats.