Last week I applauded Budweiser for the Lost Dog campaign around their commercial that was rated by a USA Today poll as the top commercial of the 2015 Super Bowl. Unfortunately for Budweiser, that was not the only commercial the company aired during the event. Budweiser also spent one million dollars on a sixty second commercial that slammed its competition.
Titled “Made the Hard Way,“ this commercial begins by stating “Budweiser proudly a macro beer.” Using background music with a hard beat, the commercial continues only with words written in all capital letters over video. Here are the rest of the words: “It’s not brewed to be fussed over. It’s brewed for a crisp, smooth finish. This is the only beer beechwood-aged since 1876. There’s only one Budweiser. It’s brewed for drinking not dissecting. The people who drink our beer are people who like to drink beer brewed the hard way. Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. We’ll be brewing us some golden suds. This is the famous Budweiser beer. This Bud’s for you.” If you want to see the commercial, go here.
I completely understand the origin of this commercial. It comes from the frustration of top management at Budweiser. While Budweiser and Miller control the beer market, their combined percentage of the market has dropped eight percentage points. It was seventy-eight percent. Now it’s seventy percent. During that same time, craft beer drinking has increased nine percentage points. This shift is infuriating top management at Budweiser.
Consequently, management gave marketing the directive to create a hard-hitting ad to tell people that Budweiser is the best, and they better keep drinking it. After all, Bud has been around since 1876. It’s made the hard way. It’s not some fussy beer that needs to be sniffed and sipped like craft beers. Management wants people instructed to forget the craft beers and go back to drinking more Bud.
Throughout my career, I have witnessed similar frustrations over competition from management of much smaller companies. Their reactions usually follow the same pattern as Budweiser’s. They stress out that people don’t know their company has been around for many years. They slam their competition and inadvertently those who frequent it. They tell people to do business with them, not their competition. In their worry about competition and sliding market share, they focus on what’s in it for them.
They need to focus on what’s in it for their customer.
This week's marketing trivia challenge is What‘s in it for your customer to do business with your company? E-mail me your answer.
Titled “Made the Hard Way,“ this commercial begins by stating “Budweiser proudly a macro beer.” Using background music with a hard beat, the commercial continues only with words written in all capital letters over video. Here are the rest of the words: “It’s not brewed to be fussed over. It’s brewed for a crisp, smooth finish. This is the only beer beechwood-aged since 1876. There’s only one Budweiser. It’s brewed for drinking not dissecting. The people who drink our beer are people who like to drink beer brewed the hard way. Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. We’ll be brewing us some golden suds. This is the famous Budweiser beer. This Bud’s for you.” If you want to see the commercial, go here.
I completely understand the origin of this commercial. It comes from the frustration of top management at Budweiser. While Budweiser and Miller control the beer market, their combined percentage of the market has dropped eight percentage points. It was seventy-eight percent. Now it’s seventy percent. During that same time, craft beer drinking has increased nine percentage points. This shift is infuriating top management at Budweiser.
Consequently, management gave marketing the directive to create a hard-hitting ad to tell people that Budweiser is the best, and they better keep drinking it. After all, Bud has been around since 1876. It’s made the hard way. It’s not some fussy beer that needs to be sniffed and sipped like craft beers. Management wants people instructed to forget the craft beers and go back to drinking more Bud.
Throughout my career, I have witnessed similar frustrations over competition from management of much smaller companies. Their reactions usually follow the same pattern as Budweiser’s. They stress out that people don’t know their company has been around for many years. They slam their competition and inadvertently those who frequent it. They tell people to do business with them, not their competition. In their worry about competition and sliding market share, they focus on what’s in it for them.
They need to focus on what’s in it for their customer.
This week's marketing trivia challenge is What‘s in it for your customer to do business with your company? E-mail me your answer.
