What’s Happening:
Branding is the name of the game in the alcohol business. A snazzy marketing campaign can make all the difference between success in the market or your brand going flat.
Bud Light destroyed its all-American beer brand earlier this year when it promoted a transgender activist and snubbed its nose at patriotic beer drinkers across the country. Sales for the former number one bear brand tanked and so did profits for its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Now the beer company appears to be trying to buy back access to customers after flagging sales have left beer distributors holding the bag with beer they can’t sell. Anheuser-Busch is willing to pay big money to maintain shelf space for Bud Light and avoid further losses.
From Blaze News:
According to Beer Marketer’s Insights, Anheuser-Busch is offering as much as $150 million in relief this year alone to beer and liquor distributors. AB InBev will reportedly provide the distributors with millions in “market share recovery incentives.”
Details of the “incentives” are sketchy, but the timing of this offer is telling to how much the massive boycott over the spring and summer has cost the beer maker. Most retailers revamp shelf space in the spring after reviewing the previous 12 months of sales. They decide which products are popular and deserve more space and which products are slacking to the point of losing space.
Reports are showing that Bud Light is a slacker brand this fall and the beer brand faces losing refrigerator space at a vast network of stores belonging to key beer sellers like Walmart and 7-Eleven. Less shelf space means even fewer sales. If retailers reapportion shelf space based on recent sales performance, a struggling Bud Light brand could give way to beer that is moving off the shelves.
Former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks told ABC News that shelf space is “the single largest determinant of sales in a store.” Think about how beer drinkers buy their beer – grab what’s cold and go.
Frericks explained that during the hot sales time on a Friday or Saturday night any beer buyers don’t wait around for a flagging brand for Bud Light. He expects a dramatic shift in consumers’ beer buying for the brand.
In July a survey showed that Bud Light lost its status as one of the top 10 beers in America. The brand has fallen to the 14th-ranked beer, tied with Pabst Blue Ribbon. Anheuser-Busch jumped into a culture war in April by partnering with a transgender activist. The advertising campaign sparked outrage and boycotts of Bud light that included viral social media displays against the brand.
Key Takeaways:
- Bud Light scrambles to save beer sales in retail stores.
- Parent company offers big money to keep beer on shelves.
- Boycott of Bud Light continues with no end in sight.
Source: Blaze News
