JOMC 170.2
Sue Alessandri
9-26-00
Budweiser in One Word: TRUE.
Anheuser-Busch is the largest beer maker in the U.S., controlling about fifty percent of the market. Bavarian Brewery (1852) was the actual name established in St. Louis, Missouri. Eberhard Anheuser acquired the Bavarian Brewery in 1860 and began to construct his legacy in the brewing industry. Adolphus Busch married Lilly Anheuser, daughter of Eberhard, and began working at the brewery with his father-in-law in 1864. Adolphus Busch became a partner in the company and together, Anheuser and Busch began to stake their claim in the beer franchise. With perseverance, their dream to nationalize a beer came true by using new innovative ideas like pasteurizing beer and refrigerating railcars for transporting their product. By 1876 Adolphus had collaborated with a good friend, Carl Conrad, and collectively they created what is now known as the “King of Beers,” Budweiser. In 1879, the name of the brewery officially changed to Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, thus beginning the Anheuser-Busch legacy.
Now the company is headed by August A. Busch III, the forth generation of the Busch family. This company is now a publicly traded stock, largely in part to the manufacturing and sales of its award winning beer. Budweiser is the company’s bread and butter, and brings forth great revenue to the Anheuser-Busch Corporation. Anheuser-Busch was not an immediate success, but through new innovative advertising techniques, their campaign shot through the roof, and still competes in the expressive market of creative advertising.
From 1920 to 1933 Budweiser was non-alcoholic, and Anheuser-Busch had to introduce many non-beer products such as: ice cream, barley malt syrup, ginger ale, root beer, corn syrup, and refrigerated cabinets. There was no intense sign of advertising at this time. Yet, in 1933, following the prohibition, Budweiser began a long-standing campaign with the infamous Clydesdales.
In 1950, the Clydesdale campaign included Dalmatians riding on the Clydesdales. This ad was actually a commercial ran recently by Anheuser-Busch along with a commercial of the Clydesdales playing football. This was not a real heavy advertising campaign, yet a perceived attraction to the beer was obviously seen by the increased revenue. The Clydesdales were more of an in-house advertising scheme to attract customers. The plan worked, but Anheuser-Busch would soon find out that advertising played a vital role in increasing sales.
Through the creative advertising schemes of many agencies, the Anheuser-Busch
Corporation has portrayed a desired image for their prized product, Budweiser. In 1996, Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners out of San Francisco began a campaign with idea of the Budweiser frogs and Louie the Lizard. The campaign was a great success and snatched many awards in the advertising field. Louie the Lizard attained a Gold Clio Award for its national radio campaign, and a Bronze Clio Award in television. There was controversy over these animated creatures used by Budweiser. Many believed that the campaign attracted kids under the age of twenty-one to the product. Budweiser could not have this effect the quality they had instilled upon their product since 1952, so in 1998, along with Charles Stone III, a new idea was brainstormed.
In the past, Budweiser attracted many customers with the strong Clydesdale ads, the recognized frogs ads, and the legendary Louie the Lizard campaign. The message perceived with the Clydesdales was both bold and tough, which proved Budweiser was the “King of Beers.” The frogs and Louie the Lizard sent mixed messages to the public, but this was the time that Anheuser-Busch began to use humor in their advertising. But none of the above could compare to the hilarious idea that Charles Stone III and a team from DDB Worldwide came up with.
DDB Worldwide, a Chicago based agency, and the Budweiser brand team took Charles Stone’s idea and came up with one of the funniest campaigns Budweiser has ever released. Budweiser’s popular campaign called “Whassup!?” turned a few heads in the advertising world. The “Whassup!?” campaign was actually a project that Stone had created in a short film titled “True.” This one word describes the whole idea that Budweiser is just plain “True.” The campaign was a great success because it reached a broad target audience, which ranged from young adults to middle-aged men, and even beyond that. By being simply “True,” Budweiser has seen the greatest sales trends in nearly seven years.
Through the television, four ads were developed for the initial phase of the campaign. The commercials include: “Call Waiting,” “Pizza Guy,” “Girlfriend,” “Wasabi,” “The Game,” and “Dream Girls.” All of these were aired for thirty seconds each. The commercials were very successful, and the national campaign as a whole won the Gold Clio Award for best television advertising campaign. This did not come easily or cheap by any means. In the magazine Advertising Age, Budweiser was ranked thirty-first in poles that calculating company’s advertising costs annually. In 1998, spent over one hundred and eight million dollar, and in 1999 that number increased to one hundred and seventeen million. This money was used to promote Budweiser in the many different media spotlights.
Budweiser used television, radio, and magazines for most of its mass-media advertising. They also promote their product in gas stations, bars, and even in Nascar (Dale Earnhardt Jr, #8). Budweiser has rights to sell in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This includes over eighty countries in all. The word gets out worldwide, and its seems that many people are listening.
Overall, the “Whassup!?” campaign was a tremendous accomplishment for Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch. By using innovative advertising techniques, this company now controls nearly half of the brewing industry. Their target audience is clearly met and understood. Anheuser-Busch effectively advertises its product on a perceptive level, and Budweiser is purely: TRUE.