Australian wine brand Yellow Tail is the world’s most powerful wine brand, with Jacobs Creek coming in third place, but brand equity has been eroded worldwide due to lower consumption during COVID-19, according to new research.
The fourth annual Wine Intelligence Global Wine Brand Power Index finds that Yellow Tail and Casillero del Diablo again claim the top two spots in the 2021 Global Wine Brand Power Index, the same positions held in 2020. The index is based on responses from over 25,000 wine consumers in 25 markets – representing over 400 million wine drinkers globally.
Third place is claimed by Jacob’s Creek of Australia (though foreign-owned by France’s Pernod Ricard), and fourth is Gallo of the US, reversing 2020 places. Australia’s Lindemans, owned by ASX-listed Treasury Wine Estate’s comes in at 11th spot.
The Wine Intelligence Global Wine Brand Power Index 2021 incorporates consumer feedback on six key brand health measures and an index is calculated at a global level as well as at a country level across 25 key wine markets. Measures include brand awareness, recalled purchase, and ‘connection’ (a blend of affinity, recommendation, and future purchase consideration).
The index reveals an industry-wide erosion of brand equity arising from the disruption to consumption patterns experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, which may take some time for brand owners to restore, according to Wine Intelligence.
Notable movers in the 2021 Wine Intelligence Global Wine Brand Power Index include Santa Carolina, which rises three places to take a top 10 spot in the Global Index for the first time; Torres, which has jumped five places to 10th, having entered the top 15 for the first time in 2020 and Pernod Ricard’s Campo Viejo, which enters the top 15 for the first time.
CEO of Wine Intelligence Lulie Halstead said while mainstream wine brands have benefited from a consumer shift towards tried and trusted brands, overall, wine brands have lost ground in terms of consumer connection, due to the fact that consumers were not browsing wine aisles as often in 2020.
“As we emerge from lockdowns into – we hope – a more stable shopping environment, the key challenge for successful wine brand owners will be restoring the fundamental positive connections that have propelled their brands to such widespread success on the world stage in the first place,” she said.
