The Grocer has published its annual list of the top 100 alcohol brands. With plenty of innovation from craft brewers and distillers, how have the big drinks brands fared over the last 12 months? We’ve had a delve around the data to gauge the performance of Britain’s top 100 alcohol brands and to see which brands have moved up and down the league table since last year. In category terms beer remains the biggest category with the...
Britain’s top 100 alcohol brands are in the spotlight after the publication of the Grocer’s list of the UK’s biggest drinks brands. The bottom end of the alcohol market is buzzing: we’re seeing record numbers of applications for distilling licenses, excellent growth for English wines and of course the ongoing rise of craft beer. But is life as good at the top? Here’s our view of the state of the market...
The English wine sector is in rude health. 2014’s harvest has seen production explode with exports set-up to grow. The wines continue to wow critics and awareness of English wines is growing among UK consumers. Consumers sales have grown too as UK drinkers discover the wines with Waitrose reporting a 95% uplift in sales. So how well are English wines using social media to reach consumers? We decided to take a look. Producers only have to look...
Take a quick read of the headlines from Harpers Wine & Spirits in December. Can you spot a common thread? [caption id="attachment_829" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Headlines from Harpers Wine & Spirits December 2014[/caption] Spotted it? Yep you got it - the wine industry isn't great at marketing and even worse when it comes to the online world. We discussed why wine marketing is so rubbish in an earlier blog post. But let's give the wine industry a break. We all know...
Wine brand marketing is rubbish. There’s no other way to describe the drivel offered often by the big producers to create their name wine ‘brands’. Their attempts at social media are equally poor. It almost feels like the consumer just gets in the way. But why is this? For a product considered as urbane and sophisticated, wine’s marketing, advertising and social media aren’t a patch on those of its rivals: beer, spirits and cider. It’s a complex market Many would...
Can the wine industry learn a thing or two from the way that craft beer approaches marketing, design and social media? A recent visit to London Wine Fair raised the question is craft beer leading the way in innovation in the drinks industry – from bottle design to Facebook ‘likes’. Design first Let’s start with the aesthetics. Beer labels are cool, artistic and resonate with a growing army of bearded hipsters who love to sup on the latest...