Earlier this semester, Texas AMA had the privilege of hosting the VP of Marketing for Budweiser, Brian Perkins. Brian spoke about the brand strategies of Budweiser, particularly in regards to their current and past Super Bowl commercials.
He reviewed the viral 2014 campaign “Puppy Love” and shared the results that the commercial had on Budweiser. Though the commercial went viral, sales did not see the same spike. Brian explained that while Budweiser enjoyed the publicity, this was not the image they wanted associated with the beer company.
The 2015 campaign sought to re-define Budweiser with the ad story “Brewed the Hard Way”. This in-your-face commercial focused solely on the product and the quality and pride behind the beer. The ad created a lot of controversy by craft beer companies and enthusiasts. However, talk created on social media was not an accident. Brian explained that the goal was to make a statement to combat the idea that “big beer is bad”. Budweiser’s customer base remained strong and pride amongst consumers only grew.
He then challenged AMA members to come up with yet another bold and disruptive idea for the 2016 Super Bowl commercial. The objectives were to drive penetration for Budweiser among 21-34 year old consumers, elevate the beer’s “quality” perception, and create talk value aka “free advertising”. The deliverables needed to include a creative idea and campaign, a TV spot idea, a digital campaign, as well as a retail program. The members broke into small groups to brainstorm and then shared their ideas with Brian. He was very intrigued by many of the pitches and appreciated all of the effort.
Texas AMA would like to thank Brian and Anheuser- Busch again for coming out and sharing the strategies of such a powerful brand.
Article by Erin M.