Here’s a summary report from Accenture research on the alcoholic beverages market that identifies key profitable growth drivers for alcoholic beverages companies – beyond acquisitions and geographical expansion

Bottom line: “In Alcoholic Beverages the ability therefore to use whatever data and insight is available in a market in order to better understand consumer needs and translate them swiftly into profitable brand innovations is key”

Key findings

• Super premium, not premium is the future (e.g. super-premium beers as substitute for spirits)
• Tweaking brands to fit local market consumer preferences and fickle notions of what constitutes a (super) ‘premium’ product
• Shifting focus from developed markets (managed decline) to emerging markets where 80% of future growth (value and volume) will come from
• From consumer innovation to context innovation – creating brands to appeal to specific occasions
• Trade marketing, and trade partnerships; More data/insight sharing and collaborative initiatives with retail partners and distributors
• LEAN, low-cost operations

The research was based on a review of 12 global, publicly listed companies with annual revenues in excess of US$2 billion, each evaluated across five measures of high performance