Riddle 1

Karen Riddle

Professor Cole

MKTG 345

12 April 2011

Successful IMC: Anheuser-Busch

In the text by Clow and Baack, Integrated Marketing Communications

(IMC) is described as “the coordination and integration of all marketing

communication tools, avenues, and sources within a company into a seamless

program that maximizes the impact on customers and other stakeholders at a

minimal cost (8).” It is important for brewing companies to incorporate means of

IMC in their efforts to succeed in the competitive industry. Anheuser-Busch, the

makers of the world’s two best-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light, has

incorporated means of IMC both successfully and continuously, which is the very

reason for their industry dominance (Anheuser-Busch “A Brief History”).

Anheuser-Busch started out in 1860 when Eberhard Anheuser, a soap

manufacturer, bought the Bavarian Brewery. His son-in-law, Adolphus Busch,

had more experience in the brewing field and brought great business tactics to

the new and improving company. Busch was the first to begin on an innovative

and tactical marketing approach for Anheuser-Busch, which would be continued

throughout generations. Busch was also the first to use pasteurization and

refrigerated transportation, which allowed the beer to be shipped across the

country without going bad. This gave Anheuser-Busch the opportunity to expand

their business. Budweiser was the first national beer to be introduced, and
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quickly became the most popular beer in the country. Bud Light was later

introduced, and became equally as popular. After four generations successfully

took on the business, the international brewing company, InBev, combined with

the company to make Anheuser-Busch InBev. Thanks to growth and

development of IMC, Anheuser-Busch InBev is now the largest brewer in the

world (Anheuser-Busch “A Brief History”).

Anheuser-Busch was not just a leader in brewing advancements, but in

advertising advancements, as well. At the time when Adolphus Busch took the

majority of control in the company, beer advertising consisted of door-to-door

“beer drummers,” word-of-mouth, and simple, point-of-sale advertisements

(Anheuser-Busch “History of Marketing and Advertising”). Adolphus Busch saw

past these simple advertising methods, and implemented the first seamless,

“multi-year” point-of-sale advertising with the “Budweiser Girl” campaign. The

“Budweiser Girl” campaign consisted of portraits of beautiful women holding

visible Budweiser bottles (Anheuser-Busch “History of Marketing and

Advertising”).

Promotional concepts were also developed early on in the company’s line

of business. Adolphus Busch also established the concept of marketing

“giveaways,” and the most popular giveaway was an Anheuser-Busch

pocketknife with company logo. Busch used items like these instead of calling

cards when he would promote the company (Anheuser-Busch “History of

Marketing and Advertising”).

Anheuser-Busch made one of their first appearances on television in 1955

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to advertise the first new brand since the Prohibition, Busch Bavarian. August

Busch, Jr. tied the brand to baseball, to further connect with the market audience.

Anheuser-Busch was the very first brewer to sponsor a television show. It

sponsored “The Ken Murray Show” in the 1950’s, the decade where network

television became popular. The commercials that were developed featured the

“Pick-A-Pair” campaign, which suggested that customers purchase two six-packs

instead of just one. Anheuser-Busch also was one of the first to use advertising

slogans for campaigns, such as “This Bud’s For You” (Anheuser-Busch “History

of Marketing and Advertising”).

A specific tactic that Anheuser-Busch used to enter the competitive light

beer industry was the emergence of Bud Light, a brand extension of Budweiser.

At this time, Budweiser alone encompassed 43% of the beer market, and

Anheuser-Busch did not want the new light beer industry to affect it’s dominance

(Sternthal). Miller Lite was the new, favorite light beer and was advertised to 18-

34 year old excessive drinkers who wanted to not feel full so fast when drinking

beer. Miller soon discovered, though, that the market of Miller Lite consumers

consisted of upscale, 25-44 year old light drinkers and professionals (Sternthal).

At first to compete with the light beer industry, Anheuser-Busch created Natural

Light as their premium and Michelob Light as their super premium (Sternthal).

Anheuser-Busch’s light beers did not make it to the forefront of the sales

category, with Miller Lite being the most successful light beer and Coors Light

being second. Sales were drastically taken from the Budweiser category

(Sternthal). Anheuser-Busch had to come up with something incredible, and

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quickly, before it was too late for the company’s most famous brand.

Anheuser-Busch’s genius and innovative marketing strategies proved to

work again, when it introduced Bud Light as a brand extension to Budweiser.

Customers linked the two together, and Bud Light quickly became associated

directly with “The King of Beers” (Sternthal). Anheuser-Busch also did what

Miller Lite did not—market and advertise to the actually light beer audience,

which was the group of light-drinking professionals 25-44 years old (Sternthal).

Bud Light advertising included the Clydesdale horse, which was one of the

campaigns known for Budweiser. In the initial advertisement, the horse was

shown running on the beach with the slogan, “Bring out your best” (Sternthal).

The advertisement included a voice-over that stated, “the brand had been

developed slowly over time with the same care, quality, and commitment that

went into Budweiser to ensure that it lived up to the heritage of Budweiser”

(Sternthal). Bud Light sold more in one year than Miller Lite sold in three years

(Sternthal). To be sure that Bud Light was the premiere light beer to be sold in-

home and out-of-home, Anheuser-Busch created the “Make it a Bud Light”

campaign (Sternthal). The premises of this advertisement was to make sure that

when the customer orders a light beer in a bar, he or she chooses Bud Light

(Sternthal).

While Bud Light was a competitive, driving force in the light beer industry,

so was Miller Lite. Bud Light still focused on gaining industry advantage, so

Anheuser-Busch began an advertising campaign that would be directed to the

other light beer category, the heavy-drinking 18-44 year olds. The campaign
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included a dog that acted like a “party animal” and was named “Spuds Makenzie”

(Sternthal). After the combination of the two opposite-directed campaigns

showed to be successful, Bud Light began running advertisements that combined

the two groups (Sternthal). The “I Love You, Man” campaign attempted to

appeal to both ends of the market spectrum, and was extremely successful.

These advertisements ran through the 1990’s (Sternthal).

Bud light worked its way to the top of light beer sales in 1997 and has

remained at the top today (Sternthal). The tactics that Bud Light used in its IMC

campaigns ultimately put the brand before the competitor, Miller Lite. Bud Light

did not ignore the older, professional market segment like Miller Lite did. Bud

Light also advertised to the other segment and then combined both ends of the

spectrum to rise to the top.

Anheuser-Busch in general implemented innovative and successful IMC

tactics from day one. Adolphus Busch seemed to be one of the first truly creative

and inventive marketers. Anheuser-Busch defeated most competition with its

promotional items, such as the pocketknives, the television sponsorships, and

seamless, continued point-of-sale advertisements. After InBev acquired

Anheuser-Busch, the company as a whole, Anheuser-Busch InBev, is the leading

brewer in the world. The company produces over 100 brands in most parts of

the world. Specifically, the Bud Light campaigns, research and IMC tactics

proved that this company is a powerful industry force and a threat to all

competitors. All of these IMC tactics made Anheuser-Busch and its number one

brand, Budweiser, become the “King of Beers,” and rise to become the
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household name it has become.

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References:

Clow, Kenneth E., and Baack, Donald. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and

Marketing Communications. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: NJ, 2010.

Community: A Brief History on Anheuser-Busch. 2007. Anheuser-Busch. 11

April 2011. http://www.anheuser-busch.com/briefHistory.html

Community: History of Advertising and Marketing. 2007. Anheuser-Busch. 11

April 2011. http://www.anheuser-busch.com/historyOfMarketing.html

Sternthal, Brian. “Brand Positioning”. Class Case Studies: Module 3. Page 3.

11 April 2011.

<http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/sterntha/htm/module3/3.html

>