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[aloravaladez]

The Battle of the Brands

Anheuser-Busch is facing the aftermath of a decision to promote a transgender social-media star. This caused a clash between the flagship brand Budweiser and its umbrella brand Bud Light. The Budweiser brand is known for its good ole boy reputation, so it did not go over well when its counterpart took a more progressive stance. Bud light wanted to take advantage of the popularity of social media to focus marketing strategies. The first female to run Bud Light’s marketing felt that to help overcome the company’s decline in sales, the brand needed to appeal to a different demographic. A lot of the aftermath anger came about due to how the company responded and the length of time it took to do so. Bud Light is now planning on focusing on omnichannel marketing again to increase sales and repair the damage. They originally scaled back from traditional marketing channels such as television, but they are leaning back in. The company also took a direct mail approach to reach out to wholesalers to repair its relationship. In light of the aftermath, Bud Light is shifting its marketing focus to highlight the military in order to save face.

  As a customer, I want brands to market to where I frequent. The idea that Bud Light was trying to move into the social media platform in order to appeal to a wider demographic reinforces that idea. Marketers should aim to combine the best of both words- the immediacy of online channels and the intimacy of offline channels. One of the major issues in the handling of the controversy was their response. Bud light used social media to market but did not take advantage of the immediate resolutions a social media platform has to offer. Digital marketing allows a brand to communicate and educate consumers. When problems arise, they can be addressed immediately. However, when companies such as Bud Light takes over two weeks to respond, it causes more harm than good and wasted easily accessible means.

A successful company understands the value in omnichannel marketing and has been continually increasing the efforts in a more digital landscape. As consumers grow and evolve, for a company to be successful it must adapt and evolve as well.

  Budweiser and Bud Light are not aligned across marketing channels. While Budweiser uses traditional marketing channels to appeal to its original target demographic, Bud Light went the opposite direction and used more trendy digital marketing channels to increase its reach to more women and younger generation. Even in their response, the company was split. They apologized through direct mail in a more private manner to one demographic and made a statement online to the other. As long as the two branches continue to split their marketing focuses, the company will never be united in its messaging.