This post really has nothing to do with “social media” marketing, but we’ll see if I can’t find some way to tie it in somewhere in my stream of thoughts.
About 20 minute ago, I was sitting in a meeting with my boss and our team up in NYC. The topic of the meeting centered around a competitive sales analysis of some of the company’s magazines. When they started talking about the poor financial position of some of our long-time titles, my ears perked up. After the phone call, I asked more about one particular magazine that has been around since the company’s beginning. Not only are newsstand sales down for it, but no company wants to pay to advertise in it nor does any publisher want to buy the magazine title from us. While this was all a little shocking to me, I didn’t rest on the shock but rather jumped straight to: “Well why doesn’t the company just rebrand the magazine?”
Quick little bit about my 22-year-old self as it relates to my career aspirations: I want to be a marketer. Well, duh, Sarah…hence the blog. Ok a little bit more detailed: As a hope-to-be future marketer, who is also one heck of a brand-loyalist, I dream of branding. I want to get my hands into the creating and positioning of a brand and its subsequent voice so that consumers don’t have a choice but to remain loyal to it.
One company and brand(s) that you know from this post that I am completely loyal to is Anheuser-Busch. And yet again, as much as I love them, their branding and strategists have been stupid (in my opinion) as of late. Here’s the headline that caught my attention:
Bud Light Moves to BBDO: Shifted to Translation last August
I read this article right after my little rebranding idea in my meeting earlier, so naturally my mind just has way too many ideas and opinions not to write down.
As the article notes, “BBDO becomes Bud Light’s fourth creative agency partner in the past 18 months.” I am not in any position to comment on the capabilities of BBDO, because until this article, I had never heard of them. Obviously, it must be one great creative agency if it scored the account of America’s largest beer brand, but couldn’t that have been said about Bud Light’s past 3 creative agency partners? Dear Bud Light and Paul Chibe: what gives?
Of course, I couldn’t help but comment on the article right away:
There is just no way that switching creative agencies this many times is healthy for the Bud Light brand. Brands need a consistent voice to be successful. These types of big moves will only confuse consumers and possibly even Anheuser-Busch InBev as a whole when it comes down to asking core brand questions such as, “What IS Bud Light (besides a beer, of course)? Who does it cater to, and who is it directed towards?” I don’t care how great this new agency is — when it comes down to branding strategy, this is one terrible move.
Does AB have a good reason for switching agency partners this much? Most likely. But that doesn’t mean that I agree with its decisions. That point, though, is what makes me want to work for Anheuser-Busch so badly: I see places in which I could add of value. I see problems that have potential solutions, and I want to be the one to bring those solutions about. This company was once (and still is…)a powerhouse, but now it seems that the beer market has shifted to one in which cheap isn’t everything. Despite this falling (or recovering?) economy, craft beers have simply EXPLODED, putting pressure on big names such as AB and MillerCoors to keep up and fashion their products in a way that competes with the uniqueness of each craft brew and its equally unique appeal to consumers.
If you’re curious: according to the Boston brewer, the shape of this can actually enhances the flavor of the brew
We’ve seen Budweiser already trying to compete with the King of craft beer. Soon after Samuel Adams announced its departure from a bottle-only stance with its introduction of the “Sam Can,” the innovations team at AB rolled out the Budweiser “Bowtie Can”, a shape that mirrors the brand’s longtime logo.
It would take a-whole-nother post for me to dive into the new “Sam Can” and the marketing genius behind that. So for now, I’ll stick to branding. Here is my takeaway these two introductions: it’s innovations, not new creative agencies, that make a brand and keep that brand on top. Agency partners are incredibly important, I know, but continually flip-flopping in between them will do nothing but to harm the consistent brand voice that consumers look for.
Welp. No social media flowed into that. I’m sure there is some implications, but for now, just enjoy my rant.
Cheers!
Sarah
A Social Love Affair 