安海斯-布希在世界各地营销他们的产品。要是缩小这个话题那就一定要讨论美国。安海斯-布希分析了这四个市场营销参与。
1.第一个最大的市场就是高端啤酒的范畴。安海斯-布希在这部分则会谈到百威啤酒和百威淡啤产品。而其他啤酒旗下的啤酒安海斯-布希则把他们类别分为芽冰和啤酒。通过广泛的市场营销和广告,百威啤酒在美国已成为最畅销的啤酒。
2.第二就是次级啤酒。安海斯-布希基在五十年前就创建了布希家族的啤酒。紧随其后的就是自然光品牌,几年后,次级啤酒通常会有稍微不同的原料和成本,约有60% -75%的溢价。
3.第三、增长最快的部分就是爱喝啤酒麦芽酒的人,那就是饮料市场。安海斯-布希直到1984年才进入麦芽酒阶段,发展最快的就是眼镜王蛇的品牌。紧随其后的是飓风品牌,于1996年被引入测试市场。最近的繁荣麦芽酒将会成为专业的饮料。随着1999年Tequiza的引入,安海斯-布希开始利用这股增加趋势,不断扩大自己的经营。紧随其后的是硬柠檬和百银。这种特种麦芽酒段不断激增,新手们都试图赶上安海斯-布希,在过去的四年中竞争者们都在积极的营销。
4.这段时间也获得了更大的啤酒市场。这些啤酒酿造在小批量的小啤酒厂中制造。季节性啤酒和风味啤酒通常出现在这些啤酒中。安海斯-布希宣称这部分股份签署的啤酒要和Widmer兄弟分销协议。在过去的几年里,这类啤酒已经逐渐成为最受欢迎的啤酒,因为他们的可用性,安海斯-布希开始开创更高的质量并且广泛分布资源。
Anheuser Busch is involved in marketing their products around the world. To narrow this broad topic only the segments in the United States will be assessed. There are four main segments of beer drinkers, and Anheuser Busch is heavily involved in all four markets.
The first and largest market is the premium beer category. Anheuser Busch leads this segment with its Budweiser and Bud Light products. Other beer owned by Anheuser Busch in this category includes Bud Ice, and the line of Michelob beers. Bud Light has become the top selling beer in the United States through extensive marketing and advertising.
The second largest segment is sub-premium beer. Anheuser Busch covered its bases in this category fifty years ago by creating the Busch family of beer. This was followed by the Natural Light brand a few years later. Sub-premium beer usually has slightly different amount of ingredients and costs about 60%-75% of its premium counterparts.
The third and fastest growing segment of beer drinkers is the malt liquor beverage market. Anheuser Busch did not enter the malt liquor segment until 1984 when they introduced their King Cobra brand. This was followed by the Hurricane brand, which was introduced into test markets in 1996. The recent boom in the malt liquor segment is due to the specialty flavored beverages. Anheuser Busch began to capitalize on this segment growth with the introduction of Tequiza in 1999. This was followed by “Doc’s” Hard Lemonade and Bacardi Silver. The specialty malt liquor segment has exploded with newcomers trying to catch up with Anheuser Busch in the last four years. Aggressive marketing campaigns are being used by all contenders in this segment.
The microbrew segment is also gaining a larger portion of the beer market. These beers are brewed at small breweries in small batches. Seasonal beers and flavored beers are usually featured in this segment of beers. Anheuser Busch has claimed its stake in this segment by signing equity and distribution agreements with Redhook Ale and Widmer Brothers. The microbrew beers have become more popular in the past few years because of their availability. Anheuser Busch pioneered this mass distribution effort with their extensive distribution resources.
Anheuser Busch has an extensive product line that delves into every segment in the market. Brand extensions in the beer market have become the most effective way to introduce a new product. The level of success the ne3w brands attain is related to the brand awareness that already existed before the new brand was introduced. Michelob Ultra is a new brand extension of Michelob. Michelob Ultra is being marketed as a beer that is low in carbohydrates and calories. This brand already has a high awareness factor. Anheuser Busch is hoping this new beer will obtain a large market share by bringing over Michelob drinkers as well as concerning health conscious beer drinkers who have been drinking beers from other companies.
The intrinsic attribute that Michelob Ultra is low in carbohydrates and calories is important to the growing portion of consumers who are health conscious. The fact that consumer can associate the new beer with the extrinsic attribute of a recognizable label will further heighten the possibility of trying the new brand. The taste of Michelob Ultra will ultimately decide its fate, but the pairing of these intrinsic and extrinsic attributes should get this new product off to a good start.
Anheuser Busch also relies on the symbolic attributes associated with their products. The Budweiser Clydesdales marketing campaign has been one of the most successful symbolic marketing campaigns in the country. These massive and graceful horses are recognized all over the country as a symbol of Budweiser beer. Sporting events are used to establish experiential associations and symbolic associations as well. The Busch Series NASCAR races are being used by Anheuser Busch to promote their Busch brands as well as give race fans an experience that they can link back to the beer. Budweiser sponsors the Dale Earnheart Jr. car in the NASCAR races. This is done for publicity as well as for the association with a winning tradition of drivers. The symbolic importance is achieved when people associate winning with Budweiser.
Special events, concerts, and sporting events are sponsored by Anheuser Busch to secure that only their beer products will be sold. This is done in the hopes that people who have a good time at these events will associate the fun time with the experience of drinking certain brand of beer.
Anheuser Busch has an extremely large and effective distribution system. Their distributions process begins with twelve breweries located throughout the United States. This helps t minimize delivery time and costs. Delivery time is also important for a quality product, being that the fresher the beer is the better the beer tastes. After the breweries, the beer goes to over six hundred wholesalers to further distribute their products. Many wholesalers distribute several different companies’ beer, but over half of Anheuser Busch’s wholesalers only distribute their brands. The high percentage of wholesalers who only distribute Anheuser Busch brands leads to a distribution channel that resembles vertical marketing systems. This system gives Anheuser Busch more control over where their beer is sold and the price of the beer.
Wholesalers distribute beer to suppliers who sell and deliver the beer to locations where it is sold. A supplier system is in place which provides businesses who sell their products with a secondary supplier or backup source. This is done to minimize the risk of stock outs. Anheuser Busch does not sell beer directly over the internet, but it does have a site where suppliers can view the process of requesting a proposal to distribute their brands. The majority of the website is devoted to advertising their products.
Anheuser Busch has been an innovative leader in advertising or many decades. Extensive television and radio campaigns put Anheuser Busch as the top spender on advertising in the brewery business. The Budweiser frogs and the “Whassup?!” campaigns have made for memorable characters and phrasing that can be linked directly back to Anheuser Busch brands.
Sales promotions are also done through promotional packaging. Recently, Michelob brands were being offered in cans promoting a golf theme. This promotion was begun during the kickoff of golf season. It was done to remind consumer of the involvement Michelob has had with sponsoring PGA tournaments. Another example of promotional packaging was evident on the sixteen ounce Budweiser cans that depicted Dale Earnheart Jr. on the can. This limited edition packaging was available through this past summer and was in full swing during the NASCAR races.