Fortnum & Mason “most prominent” alcohol brand in 2023, study shows

Despite Fortnum & Mason seeing the biggest year-on-year decline in online brand visibility during 2023, the luxury retailer still pipped the likes of Waitrose and Master of Malt to the post for prominence.

An annual report carried out by UK marketing agency Salience Search Marketing found that upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason eclipsed key industry players last year to become the most prominent booze brand online for UK consumers.

The analysis was made by measuring 11 performance indicators, including year-on-year visibility, search volume trends, and brand awareness, and involved monitoring the number of monthly online searches for each brand, as well as consumer engagement rate with brands across social media platforms.

According to the report, Fortnum & Mason led the way with more than 201,000 brand searches per month. Its social media engagement rates were driven by the luxury retailer’s 522,100 social media followers.

The results come in spite of the finding that Fortnum & Mason experienced the biggest year-on-year decline in terms of online visibility for its alcohol beverages, with organic growth dropping by 12% last year.

Fine spirits merchant Master of Malt, Wine Searcher and Vivino all also saw their online visibility decline last year.

Majestic

Majestic, on the other hand, saw the most growth in online visibility in 2023, with a 30% improvement.

However, the study suggests that visibility may not necessarily be the most important measurable for brands. Retailers should also be looking at their ‘authority’ ranking, which is about the “stature and reputation of your website”.

The combination of the two can help to identify who the sleeping giants are in the drinks industry, says the report.