Budweiser Brand Report

Brand Audit Report:
Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser Beer








Group 6:
Patricia Graells
Elle Gueringer
Javier Morenes
Sonya Pysh
Rebecca Siwon





1409 Global Branding
Professor Ursula Haas-Kotzegger

Introduction
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch) is an American lager beer and one of the most popular in the United States. Budweiser is made with a largeproportion (up to 80%) of rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced invarious breweries located in the United States and around the world. Is afiltered beer available in draft and packaged form.
What we have tried to do in this report was to find the essence of Budweiser´s brand equity, to do that we have made a very deep analysis through their branding strategy. Also we wantedto add our personal recomendations to increase their brand equity.

Company Background
The Busch Company was founded in 1852 by Adolphus Busch and became Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (AB Inc.) eight years later when Eberhard Anheuser joined the company. It introduced Budweiser in 1876 after Busch had the idea of creating America's first lager during a trip to Europe1. The company had two decades ofsuccess until Prohibition began in 1919. During this time, the American government placed a ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. The company initial suffered losses but was able to remain open through the end of prohibition in 1933 by selling more than 25 non-alcohol products. AB Inc. again experienced rapid growth during the 1950's and 60's, and has since developed anextensive portfolio of beers2.

Current Brand Portfolio
Figure 1. Beer Families |
|
“American-style lager” |
Budweiser, Bud Select, Bud Select 55, Bud American Ale, Bud Chelada |
|
“American-style light lager” |
Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, Bud Light Clamato Chelada |
AB Inc. divides its products into several category extensions which it calls beer families. Within each beer familyare specific products or line extensions. There are currently two families under the Budweiser brand name: Budweiser and Bud Light. The full portfolio of the Budweiser brand families can be found in Figure 1.

Overall Strategy
As Budweiser was the first US-based lager in the American beer market, the company has succeeded it aligning its brand with the ‘American Dream’. This ideal was definedby James Truslow Adams in 1931, who stated that in America “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.”3 This ideal is rooted in the US Constitution which establishes the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Accordingly, Budweiser primarily targets the blue collarworker and seeks to portray its beer as a refreshing beer one can enjoy with friends or family after a day of hard work. It also depicts the beer as a commonality for Americans; no matter how diverse two people are, they will have something in common because of their relationship with Budweiser. Although AB, Inc. has run diverse marketing campaigns throughout its history, it maintains this specificbrand image. This consistency has been a vital component of Budweiser's brand equity in the USA.

In recent years, Budweiser has found it necessary to reposition the brand as it expands into global markets. It has found entry into some regional markets difficult because of local competition. Europe has been one of the hardest markets for Budweiser to penetrate, as many European consumers areloyal to their countries' local beers. For the sake of accuracy, our group has chosen to focus primarily on the evaluation of Budweiser and Bud Light branding strategies in the United States.

Brand Knowledge:
Interbrand.com. Add a chart or something? Label them figures 3 and 4

Brand Positioning:
Add introduction to this section…I think I might jump into it too fast. Does everyone agree?...