Heineken, Jack Daniels and Budweiser are Top-Ranking Alcohol Beverage Brands

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 23, 2017) - When it comes to adult beverages, consumers are talking more about beer brands than spirits, according to a new, first of its kind analysis of combined offline and online consumer conversations. Today, Engagement Labs released its TotalSocial^® rankings on the top performing alcohol beverage brands in the U.S. The rankings are based on Engagement Labs' proprietary TotalSocial data, which continuously measures the most important drivers of brand performance with respect to social media and word of mouth conversations.

The analysis finds that, as a whole, the alcohol beverage category are "Whisper Brands," performing below average both online (social media) and offline (in face-to-face conversations). When comparing online to offline, alcohol beverage brands tend to perform slightly better when it comes to face-to-face conversations occurring offline.

According to Engagement Labs' data, however, Heineken takes the lead as the top alcohol beverage brand on TotalSocial. The exceptional performance of the brand classifies it as the category's only "Conversation Commander," which means the brand performs above average both offline and online. Heineken boasts extremely strong sentiment scores both offline and online that lift it above the category average, even though it is not the most talked about brand. Some of its peers, such as Budweiser and Bud Light generate a larger volume of conversations. Heineken's strong performance can be attributed to its exceptional sentiment scores which reflect its ability to connect with its customers. In addition, its marketing gets people talking, especially in offline conversations. For example, the brand's recent ad campaign, "Worlds Apart," encouraged people to participate in conversations about hot-button, controversial topics.

As a whole, the ranking of the top alcohol beverages is dominated by beer brands, which earn four out of the top five spots. The only spirits brand to make it into the top five is Jack Daniels, ranked second in the category. Jack Daniels' performance is generally better in offline, or word of mouth conversations as compared to conversations happening about the brand on social media channels. Last year, the brand marked its 150^th anniversary and celebrated it with an engaging marketing campaign that installed "pop-up distillery experiences," which further encouraged fans to partake in an authentic conversation about its tradition and heritage.

"Beer brands are historically some of the most aggressive marketers," said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. "Not only do they create 'talk worthy' campaigns, they spend a lot on media to ensure their target audience is exposed to their messages and motivated to talk about them. It appears, for many of the brands on our list, this strategy is paying off. Consumers are talking! However, other types of beverages in this category are not following suit."

Keller continued, "The alcohol beverage industry as a whole is built around a culture of sharing and encourages its customers to engage with others in a social environment -- which presents a clear opportunity for brands to engage with its fans and facilitate more meaningful conversations that result in improved sales and brand recognition."

In contrast to strong performers such as Heineken and Jack Daniels, the analysis finds that Corona, ranked fifth in the category, has one of the largest discrepancies between its offline and online TotalSocial scores out of the 500 brands measured. Corona's high offline score puts it at the top of the offline list, but its weak online scores hold the brand back and prevent it from doing better in the TotalSocial rankings. This proves that Corona has seen success in connecting its brand with consumers in offline conversations, but lacks in its ability to recreate that same level of buzz and excitement surrounding the brand in conversations happening online.

Engagement Labs classifies brands such as Corona -- those that perform considerably better offline than online, or vice versa -- as "Social Misfits." Corona's status as a Social Misfit underscores a need for the brand to pay closer attention to what drives strong performance in one channel, and apply those lessons to the other to help drive better overall consumer engagement and sales. Download Engagement Labs' e-book on Social Misfits rankings data to learn more about brands with this type of discrepancy at socialmisfits.engagementlabs.com.

To learn more about Engagement Labs or its TotalSocial insights, and how to increase your brand's word of mouth in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com.

About Engagement Labs
Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) is the world's first TotalSocial^® company, offering intelligent data, analytics and insights for marketers. We are leaders in tracking, measuring and benchmarking the impact of conversations happening around a brand and industry -- both online and offline. Consumer conversations are a proven driver of critical business outcomes, including sales. The patent pending TotalSocial data solution provides brands with unique insights and powerful analytics to understand online and offline social impact and drive business results. TotalSocial demonstrates to marketers how their online and offline conversation compare and contrast and helps identify areas of competitive opportunity or significant emerging threats. TotalSocial is an "always-on" proprietary scoring system, based on the most important drivers of brand performance: Volume, Sentiment, Brand Sharing and Influence. TotalSocial was built on the pillars of Engagement Labs' patented social media measurement tool and the world's only offline word of mouth tracking system for brands and tracks 500 brands within the U.S. across 17 major industry categories, and 350 brands in the UK.

To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.

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