World

Every year, Brand Finance values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. The world’s top 25 beer brands are included in the Brand Finance Beers 25.

The world’s most valuable beer brand is Bud Light. It is also the fastest growing major beer brand this year, up 34 per cent to USD 6.6 billion. Sister brand Budweiser is in second place at USD 5.9 billion. Anheuser Busch courted controversy with its Superbowl ad, ‘Born the Hard Way’. The cinematic spot emphasized Budweiser’s heritage and the perseverance of its founder, but drew the ire of Trump supporters who called for a boycott of the brand for what they saw as thinly veiled pro-immigrant propaganda. This does not appear to have had any lasting damage however, with brand value up 30 per cent.

Heineken is in third place again with a brand value growth of 22 per cent to USD 5.2 billion. Heineken is a major global sponsor, particularly of sports. It has a longstanding relationship with the UEFA Champions League, however Heineken is slowly shifting its focus away from football which it sees as ‘totally overcrowded’ with competitors brands making differentiation difficult. It is instead developing its involvement with Formula 1 and has renewed its association with Rubgy by announcing that it will be the headline sponsor of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

From place 4 to 10 rank Brahma, Skol, Asahi, Corona Extra, Guinness, Kirin, and Miller Lite.