Digital IQ Index® - Beer 2016

Amid flat global sales growth, shifting consumer preferences and increased government scrutiny of acquisitions, digital investments offers beer brands an opportunity to develop new brand building skills and position themselves for new distribution channels. Across the industry there continues to be modest incremental investment in site features including hosting videos, selling merchandise and establishing site accounts. In social, Craft breweries lead the charge on Instagram in the US—where organic reach still reigns—and register several times the community size, frequency of postings, and interactions of mass peers. Consumers indicate a willingness to purchase beverages online, though intent and behavior are still not aligned. Mass brands including Heineken and Bud Light leverage large budgets to experiment on courier apps, and brand presence on 3rd party courier sites Minibar and Drizzly now exceed presence on traditional e-tailers Walmart.com and Fresh Direct. L2 research reveals a gulf between digital leaders and laggards. Budweiser is a winner across geographies, taking first place in the U.K. and China and ranking Genius in the U.S., buttressed by strong brand sites and localized social accounts in each region. Bud Light ranks #1 in the U.S., with strong performance on Facebook, YouTube, and Mobile Apps with help from the Bud Light Party Super Bowl campaign this winter. Dos Equis ranked first in Mexico and Gifted in the U.S. In their domestic market, the brand hosts innovative user-generated campaigns and sponsors local festivals, while U.S. presence garners robust engagement from its #AdiosAmigo campaign after retiring "Most Interesting Man in the World". This series of 4 Digital IQ index reports examines 88 Beer brands in the Mass, Premium, Craft, and Cider categories in the U.S., Mexico, China and U.K. Members can download the full reports at L2inc.com.