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Slideshow
World’s most powerful brandy and Cognac brands
In the sixth of our Power Brand roundups we take a look at the world of brandy which, despite battling a continued slowdown in China, has seen several brands maintain their grip within a challenging market.
Taking data from 2013, the The Drinks Business Power Brands Report, compiled by the drinks business together with Intangible Business, sees the world’s most influential wine and spirits brands pitted against each other to determine the world’s most powerful. In a list dominated by Cognac, a category which experienced a generally bad year thanks to China’s continued slowdown, Hennessy has stayed positive thanks to its strong position in the robust US market.
Despite problems caused by the Chinese market, earlier this year the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC) described sales of Cognac as “reassuringly high” in 2013.
In 2013 the category’s total volume sales dipped by 4%, however value sales increased by 0.2% for the same period which the BNIC said indicated that strong demand still exists for luxury Cognac.
In total, the BNIC reported that 2013 exports to the Far East saw a 10% volume decline to 56 million bottles and 4% value decline to €1.1 billion.
Despite this significant slip, the organisation noted that the far east remains “the most important export market for Cognac in terms of volume and value.”
The US and Africa were instead responsible for buoying an otherwise sluggish Asian market with exports to North America rising by 2.1% to 53m bottles in 2013 and by 5.3% to €651m by value, while Africa reported an export surge of 26.7%.
Scroll through to see which brandy brands are currently deemed to be the world’s most powerful.
NB: The Power Brands Report only features international brands with a global distribution.
Check out our most powerful drinks, whisky, vodka, Champagne and sparkling wines, and wine lists here.
Methodology
Nearly 200 of the largest brands in the wine and spirits industries were scored by nine panelists to derive a list of the 100 most powerful alcoholic drinks brands. Power is defined by a brand’s ability to generate value for its owner. Value is classified by a series of measures as identified below.
Hard measures
• Share of market: volume-based measure of market share
• Brand growth: projected growth based on five years’ historical data and future trends
• Price positioning: a measure of a brand’s ability to command a premium • Market scope: the number of markets in which the brand has a significant presence
Soft measures
• Brand awareness: a combination of both prompted and spontaneous awareness
• Brand relevancy: capacity to relate to the brand and a propensity to purchase
• Brand heritage: a brand’s longevity and a measure of how it is embedded in local culture
• Brand perception: loyalty and how close a strong brand image is to a desire for ownership
A panel independently ranked each brand out of 10 on the above measures (10 = high, 0 = low). The scores were aggregated and averaged to reach a total score for each brand. A total score was achieved by multiplying a brand’s weighted volume by its brand score (a derivative of the eight measures of brand strength), within a defined range. The weighting is designed to adjust the volumes to a comparable level.
6. Courvoisier
Overall rank: 70
Owner: Beam Inc
Origin: France
Total score: 4.4%
Change: 0%
Brand score: 56.3%
Change: 2%
5. Dreher
Overall rank: 58
Owner: Campari
Origin: Brazil
Total score: 5.1%
Change: -2%
Brand score: 38.2%
Change: -4%
4. E&J Brandy
Overall rank: 57
Owner: E&J Gallo
Origin: US
Total score: 5.2%
Change: 0%
Brand score: 39.3%
Change: 0%
3. Rémy Martin
Overall rank: 50
Owner: Rémy Cointreau
Origin: France
Total score: 6.4%
Change: -2%
Brand score: 60.1%
Change: -5%
2. Martell
Overall rank: 24
Owner: Pernod Ricard
Origin: France
Total score: 10.7%
Change: 0%
Brand score: 60.2%
Change: -6%
1. Hennessy
Overall rank: 5
Owner: LVMH
Origin: France
Total score: 35.9%
Change: -1%
Brand score: 70.3%
Change: -5%
Round up
1. Hennessy
2. Martell
3. Rémy Martin
4. E&J Brandy
5. Dreher
6. Courvoisier