The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Anheuser Busch InBev is looking to “tweak its marketing campaign and ratchet up spending” in order to revitalize its Bud Light brand in the face of weakening sales:
Dollar sales of Bud Light fell 2.5% in U.S. food, mass-merchandise, drug and convenience stores in the 13-week period ended July 12 from the same period a year earlier, according to Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based market-research firm. Volume sales fell 5.5% over the period. (The statistics exclude sales at certain retailers that don’t share information with research firms.)
The brewer will look to keep its “drinkability” tag while bringing back some of the humour that its commercials are known for; something that executives and ad agencies feel will help to once again spur demand.
Payout Perspective:
MMAPayout had previously reported that the struggling economy could potentially force some UFC sponsors like Anheuser to cut back on their advertising budgets in order to meet their fiscal requirements. It’s encouraging to see Anheuser Busch InBev pumping dollars into the Bud Light campaign as opposed to taking them out.
While I doubt any of the 15 new commercials on the way involve MMA fighters it would certainly be worth the company’s while to involve men like Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz in their spots. Bud Light’s association with the UFC is almost complete, but some funny spots including a Liddell or Ortiz could be very good marketing tools (especially Ortiz with the Latin market).
I also think it’s interesting that if you really think about which MMA fighters would be best suited to sell the Bud Light brand, none of the new fighters compare as well to some of the old guard. It should go to show that the new breed – St-Pierre, Machida, Silva, etc. – still have a ways to go. However, that could all change in six months from now if the UFC continues on its current trajectory and piles up another couple huge PPVs.
Commentary Note: Be sure to check out the full article at WSJ online; included is a top ten yearly US sales revenue chart for the beer industry. Bud Light sells almost 2.5 times as much beer as its nearest competitor (Budweiser); the fact that Bud Light sponsors the UFC is a huge endorsement of the company and the sport.
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