This week AB InBev announced the launch of a limited-edition
brew - Budweiser 1933 Repeal Reserve. To
draw attention to the product, AB InBev is partnering with Lyft today. Call between 3 pm and 7 pm for a 15 minute
ride in a vintage car (first-come, first-served). (Lukovitz, 2017)
The campaign also includes a tv ad (below). And dizly.com
is offering $5 off on first purchases. (Oster, 2017)
Since 44% of 20-somethings have never even tried Budweiser,
AB InBev needed to do something new. Their
"America" rebrand last summer was a flop because it only drew attention
to the fact that the brand is owned by a European company. (Bhattarai, 2017)
And U.S. sales were down another 1.3% in the first half of
2017. (Nurin, 2017)
But is
this the solution? Will a limited
edition craft beer appeal to Millennials?
What persuasion techniques is AB InBev employing? What type of people might be interested? Which preferences? Why? What about rides in vintage cars? How will these impact sales? Is NYC the right place to offer them?
Lukovitz,
K. (2017, October 23) Budweiser Gets Crafty With Limited-Edition 1933 Repeal
Reserve. mediapost.com. Retrieved
October 24, 2017, from
Oster, E. (2017, October 24) Why Budweiser Is Teaming Up With Lyft to
Deploy a Fleet of Classic Cars From the 1930s. adweek.com. Retrieved
October 24, 2017, from http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/why-budweiser-is-teaming-up-with-lyft-to-deploy-a-fleet-of-classic-cars-from-the-1930s/
Bhattarai, A. (2017, May 28) The maker of Bud Light is investing $2
billion to make its beer "more sophisticated" denverpost.com. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from http://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/28/anheuser-busch-bud-light-marketing/
13 comments:
I think the ad is good, but I am not sure if it will help attract millennials. Research by Nielsen shows that 15% of millennials’ beer money goes to the craft segment. However, the study also indicates that they are not spending their money on mainstream brews. Millenials distaste for mass-market beers and spirits—and a preference for the pricier small-batch booze.
Millennials have failed to embrace big brands like Budweiser to the same degree as older generations.
Budweiser sales in 2016 reached 14.4 million barrels less than a third of the brand's peak. According to Business Insider, Budweiser will report revenue dropped 2.2% in the most recent quarter.
The beer industry has been plagued by millennials' relative lack of interest. Beer penetration fell 1% from 2016 to 2017 in the US market. I don't think
Also, the recent ad campaign where Budweiser calls itself American. Maybe a misstep by the Belgium own company especially at a time when politics may have left American consumers feeling less than united in their patriotism failed to grab young consumers' attention with a flourish of patriotism.
I agree with Walter's opinion. It is a good idea for Budweiser to explore a niche market, which are people at their 20s, since 44% of them never drink Budweiser before. I don't see how this commercial is targeting millennials. It is a fact that people tend to purchase something that are packaged nicely for the holiday season, and it is not a bad idea for Budweiser to introduce the 1933 repeal reserve limited edition, but the thing is that I don't think the target customers get this commercial and I don't think this ad is appealing.
What I found most interesting is that the product itself is a bit misleading. I assumed that by including 1933, Budweiser was alluding to the fact that the beer was that old. I did some research and beer in fact doesn’t expire and Budweiser has been around since 1876 - almost 141 years- so it could have made sense to introduce an “old recipe”. But since the product is just the actual recipe/brewing process that’s new - I wasn’t really interested in hearing more about the product anyways. I’m not a beer drinker however.
On another hand, millennials and moreover, hipsters, love limited edition & specialized products. So I’m assuming Budweiser is targeting this demographic of beer drinkers who want a quality crafted beer. The video ad itself is selling a “secretive product” as they include a scene of a man entering a speakeasy to find the 1933 Budweiser draft.
Alot of brands have implemented Uber & Lyft, such as Disney and McDonalds, as mean to grow product or brand awareness. Whether or not that pays off in the end is TBD, but as a New Yorker who uses both apps to get around in the city I would be interested in riding just to check out the Vintage car!
I don't think this way can help the sales increase, but it will attract certain customers to buy Budweiser. In the news, it mentions that only limited people can get the chance to ride the vintage car, and here it is playing "scarcity" strategy. It limits the amount of getting the chance to ride the vintage car, but it will drive people's attention on trying to get the beer at least. The company tries to bring back the 1933 version, and I don't think Millennials would get that. Millennials are from the 1980s to 1990s, when it was 1933, they were not born. I don't think they will feel related. However, those fans of vintage and Budweiser royal customer would definitely try about this; since this campaign is related to the holiday, for those for love holidays will also do it. It also collaborated with Lyft, and I think some of the customers from lyft would love it too. Still, I don't think to ride a vintage car in New York is going to work, due to city's traffic, and also, people would prefer either taking the subway or walk. This strategy can apply in cities like Los Angeles or Las Vegas. I am from LA, and I know people there have a thing for vintage, and they drive a lot in there.
Hi class,
In my opinion, I don’t think this ad can solve the problem. In this ad, it only shows that Budweiser has a limited edition beer for holiday season. They only introduce the beer but not put too much effort on appealing Millennial. For Millennial, they like unique products and packed well products. But this ad doesn’t connect to Millennial. Maybe, they can use the idea many cool Millennial get together and drink the Budweiser limited edition beer.
jinjin Lu
I don’t think the ad can persuade Millennials to drink Budweiser because the target audience of the ad is unclear. According to the statistics provided by The Wall Street Journal, Budweiser sold only 16 million barrels in 2013 compared with 30 million in 2003. Today, Americans care more about healthy eating and drinking than before. “People drink more wine, mixed drinks and spirits” (Schiavenza). Budweiser faces with fierce competition with wine and craft beers brands. Also, the price of Budweiser is high, so consumers might prefer other cheaper and tastier beers.
Matt Schiavenza, “How Budweiser Lost Millennials” The Atlantic
Hi class!
In my opinion, this ad is not the solution. The “craft beer” will not persuade Millennials to drink Budweiser. Joelly said it best, “I did some research and beer in fact doesn’t expire and Budweiser has been around since 1876 – almost 141 years – so it could have made sense to introduce an ‘old recipe.’ But since the product is just the actual recipe/brewing process that’s new – I wasn’t really interested in hearing more about the product anyways” (See Post).
If Budweiser’s intention is to target Millennials, they are doing it wrong. Millennials automatically distrust advertisements because “they’re all spin. Of course your commercial makes your product look amazing. You’re trying to make money. But how do THEY know it’s worth it?” (QUOTE). Millennials call for authenticity and transparency.
Statistics show that 44% of 20-somethings have never tried Budweiser. Thus, it would be in the company’s best interest if they instead chose to target Millennials in an authentic and transparent way, not a flashy one. Doing so will hopefully drive profit upward.
What do you think?
Best,
Grace
Tyson, Matthew. “Millennials Want Brands To Be More Authentic. Here’s Why That Matters.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 January 2016. .
No! I don't think the limited edition craft beer will attract too many Millennials since Budweiser taste awful. They are using scarcity to attract customers, and I think they will attract middle age male and heavy beer drinkers. Their limited-edition beer can increase sales for a while, but I doubt it will last. At last it's a bad idea to offer the vintage cars in NYC since NYC is horrible place to drive and most people just use public transportation.
AB InBev hasn't seemed to find the right mix of product and marketing to hit the Millennial consumer recently and this outing doesn't look to be the course correction they desperately need. What's clear is that Millennials eschew overly hyped, "corporate" marketing and embrace low key, low budget advertising because it appears less glossy and more believable. There is a glimmer of hope however. Studies show that Millennials are very nostalgic and like to hearken back to days gone by, because it's counterculture and retro has become cool (Wilkins, 2017). The Lyft cars may sway some Millennials however the Budweiser branding may be a simultaneous turnoff. Cialdini persuasion principles which I see AB InBev trying to employ in this campaign are that of Reciprocity, where people feel obliged to give back to others the form of a behavior, gift, or service that they have received first (the Lyft car rides). They also seem to be leveraging their brand cache as a means to induce Authority, where people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts. NYC is the right spot to launch this campaign because a metropolitan, busy cultural center has many beer lovers of eclectic tastes.
Honestly, the entire beer market has become very saturated. So much so, that craft breweries have run out of names! (see link below for more info) Craft beer and other beers are perceived by millenials as cooler and hip, whereas Budweiser has lost all sense of cool and to me has a reputation for being a "trashier" choice. I don't think the limited edition will change much of that image. As for the vintage cars, yes that is cool and I'm sure people will take the rides but I doubt they will become Budweiser drinkers because of this.
On the other hand, Budweiser could play up to millennials who like to be different. For instance, I heard that millenials are smoking actual cigarettes and not e-cigarettes because actual cigarettes are cool and retro. Budweiser may be able to catch on to this kind of trend with a retro appeal.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/01/05/369445171/craft-brewers-are-running-out-of-names-and-into-legal-spats
I think that making the consumer feel exclusive is a form of scarcity. Budwaiser is playing with scarcity since its’ campaign with Lyft is only for a limited time This campaign would appeal to millenials because of how this generation value “unique, more expressive, sustainable, and exclusive - they increasingly don't 'do' average.” (Tracy, 2015) It would target people with a strong emotional, leader-like type who care about what other people think. Also it could target people who have interest in cars collections. NYC is a good place because not everyone owns a car and uber and lyft are other alternatives and convenient services for new yorkers. Specially during the holidays with the subway delays.
Melissa Cruz
I don’t think that this ad would be able to convince millennials to drink Budweiser. Although I think the ad is good, in terms of visualization I don’t think it really targets them. Budweiser is a mainstream brew and from going to bars with others millennial I have seen that many of them are not into beer Everyone tries to embrace the “hipster” culture that has taken over. Like Siqi, I also came across the article that stated from 2003 to 2013 Budweiser sold 10 million barrels less.
Millennials are now turning to wine as their choice of alcoholic drinks. In 2016, wine shipments to the US market hit approximately $34.1 billion. That is about a 4.6% increase from 2015 alone and it will only continue to grow unless beer companies like Budweiser step it up. Over the last decade it has wine sales have increased 12%, that being aided by millennial who have joined.
The only target population that I can figure out from this ads is heavy drinkers. It's hard to persuade audience who never heard about the brand by just launching limited products. Millennials may like the old thing, so the chance to ride vintage cars may work for them, but it is not appropriate in NYC since lots of people perfer the public transportation.I think this Budweiser should add more Millennial's elements in the ads.
Best,
James
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