Bud Light has a long history of memorable advertisements designed to speak to its target audience. There was the “I Love You Man” ad showcasing a Bud Light-loving man telling anyone and everyone he loved them, just to get a Bud Light. Then came the “Dilly Dilly” ad featuring a king who loved Bud Light so much, his entire kingdom was focused on ensuring the king and his queen had all the Bud Light they could drink. And, who could forget the Spuds McKenzie ads, where the lovable bull terrier was the original party animal.
These ads were humorous, absurd, and of course memorable. More importantly, they resonated with the beer’s primary target audience; men between the ages of 21 and 34 who enjoy sports and socializing. This being the case, why did the company venture away from its core audience and recruit Dylan Mulvaney as its spokesperson?
Lessons Learned
So now we read that Anheuser-Busch’s Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Garbe is leaving the company after just two years in the role. Is this a coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not. But this comes on the heels of the departures of Heinerscheid and Blake. Add to the fact that Bud Light has yet to recover in terms of sales and market share and some of Anheuser-Busch’s other brands have suffered. But hope springs eternal, as Kid Rock has decided to forgive Bud Light for the choices they made.
What did we learn about this soap opera of a fiasco at Bud Light? We learned several things:
Companies Must Properly Match Spokesperson and Brand
As I mentioned earlier, your spokesperson must align with the characteristics of your target audience. While trans people certainly enjoy Bud Light, they are not the brand’s core audience. If they were, Dylan Mulvaney would have been an ideal choice. But since the brand’s target audience consists of men who align with the beer’s “fratty” positioning, the person selected as a representative should have exhibited those characteristics. Even if Bud Light wanted to expand beyond that core, they should have chosen someone who’s characteristics would easily co-exist with those of their core.
An example of selecting a spokesperson who effectively aligns with the brand’s characteristics is Snoop Dog representing Corona (which, by the way is also owned by Anheuser-Busch). According to Statista, Corona has very high awareness, especially among older generations, such as Generation Z and Baby Boomers. Snoop Dog’s chill persona fits well with Corona’s brand.
Understand The Strength, and Fragility, of Your Brand
Bud light, and its domestic sister brands within the Anheuser-Busch portfolio, such as Budweiser, Michelob, and Busch, are all relatively strong brands that have catered to its core audience for decades. It’s very difficult to alienate your core audience in a way that they no longer purchase your product in droves.
Strong brands across other industries, such as Nike, Microsoft, Apple, and Volkswagen have all had their share of controversy. But their brands were strong enough to weather those storms and they are as strong as ever.
We see what happened to Gillette by alienating its core audience with a series of “toxic masculinity” ads that poked at the very audience that buy is products. This opened the door to competing brands such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club. While Gillette has backed off that approach and remains a strong brand, there was significant backlash.
Sell, Don’t Divide
One of the reasons Heinerscheid chose Mulvaney to represent Bud Light is because she felt the brand’s advertisements had been too “fratty” and she wanted to move away from that. Bud Light’s core audience is likely “fratty” or at lease identifies with people who exhibit frat-like behavior.
As marketers, it’s not our role to abandon the core audience of a company because you, the marketer, may not identify with them. Our role is always to understand our core audience, serve their needs based on their expectations and, if possible, identify untapped potential that not only makes them love your brand more but drives increased revenue – all without alienating your core.
It looks like Anheuser-Busch has learned its lesson. Based on the ads we are now seeing, Bud Light is promoting sports, masculinity, and groups of average men and women simply hanging out at a small outdoor concert. Would these ads and videos have been created had there been no backlash from Mulvaney? Perhaps, but it’s these new efforts are garnering a lot of attention because of the backlash from earlier this year.
When It’s OK to Lead Your Audience
The other side of this coin is when brands realize they need to add to their core audience. This occurs when the market changes, the demographic you once pursued can no longer sustain your growth plans, and you need to add others to your core. This may have been what Bud Light was attempting to do. It’s possible they believed they could retain their core audience while capturing an additional segment or untapped market. This strategy is fine, as long as a brand does not alienate its loyal audience.
Unfortunately, Bud Light has alienated quite a few people and it seems several within the company have paid with their jobs. As a marketer and communicator, I never want to see anyone lose their job. I’m sure these folks will land on their feet but it’s a difficult lesson to learn when a brand decides to position itself in a way that encourages many of their core customer to walk out the door. Lesson learned.
Ernie Martin is Founder and CEO of Content Revolution Labs. He brings over 30 years of experience in marketing, communication, social media, web development and research and draws upon his extensive experience to share knowledge and best practices with marketing and communications professionals. He is also Founder and CEO of Receivable Savvy, a research and content development consultancy, and previously served as marketing chair and board member of the Digital Business Networks Alliance as well as chair of the BPC’s Vendor Forum in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He has also spent time at companies such as Delta Airlines, CIGNA Healthcare, Georgia Pacific, the Centers for Disease Control, Kimberly-Clark, and Tungsten Network/Kofax.
Please note, I am not writing a moral or cultural commentary on their choice of Dylan Mulvaney as spokesperson. Any company can choose any person to represent them at any time. Some people may like it while others may not. But ultimately, it’s Bud Light’s, and by extension, Anheuser-Busch’s, right to do anything they want with their money.
What Happened?
I’m writing this commentary because Anheuser-Busch had forgotten one of the core principles of brand building when it comes to marrying a representative with a core audience. That principle is to make sure your brand chooses a person that aligns with the characteristics of your brand and is the personification of your brand’s identity. If Bud Light’s core target audience is men between the ages of 21 and 34 who enjoy sports and socializing, then perhaps Dylan Mulvaney is not the right spokesperson who is the embodiment of the brand’s characteristics whom the target audience can identify with. In fact, the brand representative should be someone the audience identifies with and, in those rare occasions, someone that core audience aspires to be like – think “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign by Dos Equis. Though not a real person, his characteristics were aspirational for many men.
I would make the same argument regarding aligning your brand’s characteristics with those of the spokesperson. If Bud Light chose Neil deGrasse Tyson. Most men Bud Light desires to connect with do not identify with the astrophysicist, no matter how well known or popular he might be.
Because of the marketing decisions made by Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, and by extension, Daniel Blake, senior vice president who oversaw marketing for Anheuser-Busch brands including Bud Light, Bud Light faced a significant backlash that led to boycotts and a steep decline in sales. As a result, Heinerscheid and Blake took leave and, according to reports, are no longer with the company.
Ernie Martin
Ernie Martin is Founder and CEO of Content Revolution Labs. He has over 25 years of experience in marketing, communications, social media, web development and research. He is also Founder and CEO of Receivable Savvy, a research and content development consultancy. He has spent time at companies such as Delta Airlines, CIGNA Healthcare, Georgia Pacific, the Centers for Disease Control, Kimberly-Clark, and Tungsten Network/Kofax.
