By Aaron Carpenter VP Marketing Levi Strauss Signature
How Bud Thinks and Brands their Products
49% marketshare for A-B. Notes that new mergers in industry will make everyone more competitive.
Beer is 56% of total alcohol consumption. #1 choice of alcohol worldwide. Since 2000 it’s dropped some (5% or so). Spirits and wine have gained share. Five years ago people started to say beer is dead when hard alcohol started gaining. It made beer reinvigorate the image of beer, to find beer’s story. Made the industry come up with – “Here’s to Beer” to bring it back. It’s been successful. Used a little TV, print, PR, and trade mags. Then helped industry group create best of class in-store displays. Then did branded content on A&E – History of Beer. Has led to a beer come back in the last couple years. Example – what do you say when you need to celebrate a softball victory? Let’s have a beer, not let’s have a Singapore sling.
Global spot – showing people around the world saying “Cheers” with their beers.
US spot – Spike Lee – who would you have a beer with if you could have one with any one – Jackie Robinson. Both powerful spots.
Success Metrics
Gallup saying Beer is Coming Back. Share building back. Industry using romance displays.
How A-B has kept 50% share in competitive industry.
No shortcuts in brewing.
Leading with innovation.
Re-invention of image to keep brands relevant (ex. – Amber Bock, Michelob Lite, Clamato – Hispanic focused)
Bud = worlds 2nd largest selling beer. Leader in China, Ireland, UK
How do you engage the elusive contemporary adult?
- simple creative that generates talk
- take risks
- don’t leave an idea too early, evolve! Example – frog spot
Wassup spot – only ran for one year. Couldn’t be sustained longer. So simple. Most would say move on, but their multiple agency model allowed them to extend it to other groups saying wassup. Budweiser managed strategy, but the multiple agency model allowed them to extend it. Other agencies took it to a new place. Showed evolution. Yuppie parody, mafia parody, Midwest version….awesome.
Treasured icon – Cleidsdales. How do you bring it back and make it relevant?
Instant replay spot with zebra as ref. Timeless, no talent fees.
Bud Light
Largest selling brand in world.
How do you keep it that way?
Stay true to brand’s personality – people go to great lengths for Bud Light
Ex – Love you man
Ex – Guys dressed as women at office parties
Ex – Cedric – key point, make celebrity subservient to your message. Don’t budge.
Ex – Carlos – ESL class
Ex – Guys at the opera. Bud light bottles burst.
Key point is longevity of the idea has made celebs out of the ads.
Cross Platform Challenge for Bud Light
How do we keep agencies on message across media platforms? Answer: Match medium to message.
How do you keep great lengths relevant with the concept?
Ex. – Pass along/PR/viral fits well. Pushed envelope with parody of Janet Jackson incident.
Ex. – Apology bot – Offered up “naughty spot” to dedicated email database. Still runs, huge hit.
Ex. – Swear Jar – controversial, but great pass along/You Tube spot. Gotta see it. Hilarious
My Key Takeaways for Levi Strauss &Co.
- Want to hear more about the multi agency model with brand strategy driven in-house. How did they get to the successful model? What were the bumps along the way? What are the pros/cons? How does it work globally?
- I’m impressed with the discipline to stay with a key strategic platform for Bud Light over time.
- Love the Risk Taking attitude – you won’t get shot for making a mistake the first time.
- Liked answer to what happened with Bud TV? Answer – the good side is that they pushed the boundary on content, brilliant concept, but it wasn’t branded enough, and wasn’t designed with an end goal in mind. They will now use it to build community.
- Liked comments on agency management – Get people who use and are passionate about your brands. Use respect.
- Thing to do tomorrow – don’t overanalyze it. Consultant mentality results in nothing getting done. Don’t shoot your mavericks.
- Would love to know how their media mix has changed over time. As drastic as AmEx’s shift from 80% TV to 30%?
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