@HeyBeerDan
  • WHO IS "HeyBeerDan?"
  • TITLE INDEX to all articles
  • CONTACT HeyBeerDan

Why "Dilly-Dilly" won't help Bud Light

11/28/2017

 
One of the oddly lingering myths of beer marketing holds that "Wassup" was an advertising high-point for Budweiser. Yes, the advertising community, Super Bowl polling, and the general-interest press all hailed the ads at the time. Yes, "talk value" (or buzz) was all the rage as the Wassup guys were included in late-night comedy sketches and the like. Yes, people liked the ads. But on the one measure that matters, the Wassup ads were an epic failure. How epic?

​Take a look.
Picture
Buzz ain't biz

A smart marketer once put it succinctly: Either advertising reverses sales declines, or it's worthless. All the good press, good laughs, and good feelings in the world have no economic value whatsoever if they don't somehow help drive sales... up. Marketers who get caught up in any "good feeling" buzz from advertising that merely entertains its audience do not deserve the word "marketing" in their inflated titles. At best, they should be called "chief entertainment officer" for their brand, but that would only highlight how pointless their efforts really are.

"'Dilly-Dilly' is the next 'Wassup."

So said the Bud Light vice-president last week. Without intending to, he sounded the death knell for his brand's latest advertising attempt to reverse its long-sagging fortunes.

​Notice anything missing in this ad?
There is a complete void of anything about Bud Light beer; nothing at all to suggest the beer is distinctive in any way. "Famous among friends" is a fatuous, inarticulate boast at best. There is absolutely nothing said or shown here to cause the audience to want to buy or drink Bud Light.

So, how's business?

Thus far, the downward slide of Bud Light sales (off 17% over the last five years) continues without even a hint of a positive "dilly- blip." This lack of positive business results continues the trend line set by the "Right beer for whatever" and Amy Schumer "political" ads that preceded it. An amazing string of worthless advertising at a cost of ten of millions of dollars.

Gullible brand people who chase comedy masquerading as advertising often become enamored of their role as entertainers. The ego-lure of becoming a pop-culture merchant is powerful. Too often, their ad agencies encourage this lapse in sound business judgement. At the extreme, these buzz-minded "business people" double-down and spend even more money to chase the buzz. Seeing their catch-phrase grow in popular use is their personal high.

​Think we're exaggerating about doubling-down? Here's the very latest from Bud Light.
However funny this ad is--and we happen to think it's not particularly funny--it continues to fail at distinguishing Bud Light beer from any other. It aims for laughs, buzz, and meaningless catchphrase repetition rather than asserting compelling brand distinctiveness. In other words, it continues Bud Light's truly remarkable record of advertising that doesn't sell.

Or in other-other words, a waste-waste of time and money.

Dilly-dilly that.

Picture

Comments are closed.

    Subscribe to New-article updates from HeyBeerDan

    * Note: Certain video links may not function in emailed articles.
    Picture

    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.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

Proudly powered by Weebly