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Budweiser
Sales: £305.8m Growth: +0.8%
As brands such as Stella (1) and Corona (31) try to cultivate a more unisex appeal with chalice glasses and sleek bottles, Bud is in no doubt about the consumers it’s gunning for: blokes. Specifically, young blokes, says AB InBev marketing director Nick Robinson.
“Budweiser is the most popular beer brand among legal drinking age to 24-year-old male consumers in the UK,” says Robinson.
“It has a strong appeal to the next generation of drinkers, which is great. And it continues to grow.”
Granted, this year’s £2.3m growth might seem small change next to the £23m surge in sales we reported a year ago (it was last year’s greatest gainer), but it’s still been enough to hoist the brand one place up our ranking. In addition, volumes are up 1.2%.
Bud’s growth hasn’t come cheap, though. It’s been spending big money on making sure it’s right at the front of its target drinkers’ minds, forking out an undisclosed sum on a five-year deal making it the official beer of the FA Cup in 2015, and backing it up with marketing initiatives such as Dream Goal, a scheme in which amateur footballers compete to have footage of their goals screened in a TV ad.
“We’ve had 38 million views of all the videos online, which is fantastic,” says Robinson.
“It really engages amateur footballers and gives them a chance to live their dream. That’s been really successful in linking the brand to the FA Cup sponsorship we have.
“The This Bud’s for You global campaign in the second half of the year will keep momentum going.”
That’s not all. The introduction of twist-off caps and promotions during key sporting events such as the FA Cup and the Euros 2016 (helping to explain the brand’s dip in average price) has also paid off for the brand, adds Robinson.
He says we can expect more big budget marketing in the coming year.
“Retailers want to pick winning brands that have support and they will give more space to those brands,” he continues. “They back those brands because they know that’s where they are going to have a winning hand.”
Or dream goal.
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