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On the heels of a smart move, Bud Light makes yet another dumb one

8/31/2017

Maybe our enthusiasm for what we thought was Bud Light's new advertising direction was premature.

In writing our last article, we considered ending the piece with a cautionary hope that what appeared to be the brand's new focus on product distinctiveness in its messaging wasn't a half-hearted attempt that would be quickly set aside, or relegated to some small portion of the brand's overall advertising effort. Our worry was based on the new brand guy's comment about "getting back to humor" in advertising then being readied for the football season.

So, here's the first of the funny stuff to appear. See if you notice anything missing... beyond anything remotely funny.

What happened to "four simple ingredients?" That was the product-distinctiveness message launched just a few weeks back. In its place we get yet another attempt by a beer brand just to be funny. Clever humor could have been employed to drive home the ingredients message, but instead here humor is an end in itself. Or rather, the attempt at humor, since this ad isn't even mildly amusing.

What appears to have occurred is the new Bud Light marketing guy falling into the trap of considering product distinctiveness to be just one message from the brand. It's not really a strategic message, meaning it's not really at the core of what Bud Light wants people to know and believe about the brand as they're about to make their beer-buying decision at the store.

Ever had a car salesman at a dealership try entertaining you with one joke after another as you were trying to decide which car to buy based on how it might be different and better than others? If so, did you buy that guy's car?

So the short story here is this: Bud Light's humorous advertising isn't funny... and it isn't advertising.

Too bad.

A headline we thought we'd never pen: Bud Light goes with product distinctiveness!

8/10/2017

How long have we been waiting for America's largest beer brand to tell us something--anything--about how it's different? What makes Bud Light better? Questions without answers for years and years as the brand indulged itself in entertainment-based nonsense in place of advertising actually designed to sell beer.

Bud Light's new marketing boss ends all the nonsense beginning today with ads that tout the 4-ingredient simplicity of Bud Light's brewing recipe. It's not just advertising about quality, it's advertising about distinctiveness. We are nearly speechless.

And lest there be any worry this strategic platform lacks a competitive edge, Bud Light slams craft beer trendiness by contrasting the essential simplicity of its recipe with the increasingly bizarre ingredient fascination on the part of the crafties. Choose simple over complex. It's the sort of premise even bearded beer geeks have to acknowledge as reasonable, and if they're honest, quite possibly, appealing.

With this strategic move may also have an ace up its sleeve. It's becoming increasingly likely that beer brands will soon be required--either by legislation or industry agreement--to disclose all their ingredients on the front of the labels. Craft brewers oppose this move. Wonder why?

Well done, Bud Light. This is what real competition is all about. Show how you're different. Sell how you're different.

And win.

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The Author

Dan Fox is a real beer guy.

For more than half his 30-year career at ad agency, Foote, Cone & Belding, he ran the Coors Brewing account. Leading a group of dozens of advertising professionals, Dan also personally wrote the Pete Coors "Somewhere near Golden, Colorado" commercials, designed the Coors NASCAR graphics, authored sales-convention speeches, and most important of all, formulated marketing strategy for virtually every Coors brand, including Coors Light, Keystone, Killian's Irish Red and more. His proudest achievement? "Our team had every Coors brand growing at once."

Over his advertising career, Dan was personally involved in the analysis, planning and creation of thousands of ads for a variety of products and services. By way of this blog, he freely shares his expertise about what works, and what doesn't, when it comes to selling beer.

If you're in the beer-marketing business--or just interested in the subject--you may want to read what "HeyBeerDan" has to say.

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On the heels of a smart move, Bud Light makes yet another dumb one

A headline we thought we'd never pen: Bud Light goes with product distinctiveness!

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