BLGW marketing plan Essays - Leuven, Anheuser-Busch InBev

Bud Light Golden Wheat Marketing Plan Kyle Turner Marketing 5000 I.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. traces its roots to 1852 and the Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis. Through new technologies and modern marketing practices, the local brewery was transformed into the industry leader. Budweiser was the first national beer brand, introduced in 1876. Twenty years later, Busch introduced Michelob, America?s first specialty beer. In 1957, Anheuser-Busch became the leading U.S. brewer, a position it retains today. In 1982, the company introduced Bud Light nationally, which grew quickly in popularity and today is one of the world?s best selling beer brands. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch and InBev combined to become Anheuser-Busch InBev. The new company is the world?s largest brewer and one of the top 5 consumer goods companies in the world. An evaluation of the company?s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats served as the foundation for this strategic analysis and marketing plan. The plan focuses on the company?s ?megabrand? strategy, with the introduction of Bud Light Golden Wheat. Anheuser-Busch has a dedicated plan of over $30MM total year marketing for Bud Light Golden Wheat, which includes heavy national media and outdoor to build awareness and introduce the brand. There will be special focus on digital to reach trendsetter consumer and a full line of merchandising and branded products to support sampling and promotion. The goal is to support trial of Bud light Golden Wheat with full Public Relations push to reinforce the ?More Flavorful Light Beer? message. II.ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Anheuser-Busch will launch Bud Light Golden Wheat in early October 2009, in an effort to attract older drinkers who are looking for a little more flavor from their light beer. The Bud Light ?megabrand? will soon have three formidable prongs. A-B is trying to stay ahead of where consumers are going. The beer has been in development for nearly two years. It will roll out the week of October 5 in every market across the country. It will be backed by a $30 million annual advertising budget. Sales of wheat beers have tripled since 2003.?The goal is to ?stay true to what the mother ship, Bud Light, has to offer,? Levy said. More money may flow to Anheuser-Busch even if people shift their purchases. That?s because both wheat and lime varieties of Bud Light will sell for roughly $1-$1.50 more per six-pack than standard Bud Light. Golden Wheat will be brewed in Baldwinsville, N.Y., Cartersville, Ga., and Ft. Collins, Colo. (McWilliams, 2009) A.The Marketing Environment 1. Competitive forces. Chicago-based MillerCoors' Blue Moon wheat beer is one of the hottest-selling craft brews, but Anheuser-Busch is angling to cut in on that growth with its new Bud Light Golden Wheat. Just two months after its debut, the new wheat beer has nearly matched Blue Moon's monthly sales. Both brewers are looking for a new source of growth as sales of mass-market beers stagnate. MillerCoors beat its archrival to the new category with Blue Moon, launched in 1995. Sales of the Belgian-style wheat beer made with coriander and citrus flavors grew 14% to more than $125 million last year, according to data from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. Blue Moon accounts for about 2% of MillerCoors' total annual sales. Anheuser-Busch showed last month that it has the marketing muscle and distribution wingspan to make up lost ground quickly. It sold 263,000 cases of Bud Light Golden Wheat in November, nearly equaling Blue Moon's total, IRI data show. Bud's wheat beer also is ma de with coriander and citrus flavors. To some extent, the wheat beers are a defensive move for both brewing giants. Independent breweries producing craft brews in small batches have skimmed customers from mass-produced beers in recent years. The big brewers apparently figure it's better to cannibalize their own sales than to let rivals take them. MillerCoors doesn't call attention to its ownership of Blue Moon, but it's using traditional mass-marketing techniques to promote the brew. Anheuser-Busch offers a line of craft beers under its Michelob brand, while MillerCoors owns Leinenkugel's. Both face a challenge in selling drinkers on craft brews from mass-market breweries. Past efforts, such as Miller Lite's Brewers Collection a few years ago, flopped. MillerCoors is investing more in craft beers such as Blue Moon because it predicts the sector