Bud Light VP - How to graduate from ivy league yet fail in real life

[ThatRobGuy]

It’s comments like that remind them they absolutely have to appeal to the next generation, because the old boomer generation that says reactionary, false, and alienating stuff like that is now dying off, literally, and that trend will only rapidly accelerate from here on out. Companies get that dead people who shook their fists at progress aren’t the ones who will keep the company lights on in 5-10 years.

Even with that in mind, I would still have to question the approach in just a pure marketing strategy sense.

I'm one who firmly believes that you have to plan for the future and any marketing exec or strategist worth their salt has to be taking into account shifting attitudes and opinions. (it's the reason why I've been critical of the GOP continuing to pander to the ideas of the religious right of the 80's when that's not where the next generation is on many of those issues)

But that's typically a careful phased approach that doesn't involve ripping off the association to the current target audience like a bandaid, and hoping the new target audience picks it up immediately. And usually it needs to be something that's more of a generational difference in ideologies and not one that's purely political.

For instance, marijuana legalization is a topic that's age component is stronger than it's political component:

Meaning, it definitely trends by age, and you're more likely to find a 25 year old republican who supports it than you would be a democrat over 50 who supports it. Which means, if you're a brand that's been catering to an anti-marijuana stance or message, it may be time for a strategy adjustment if you don't want to lose your business in 20 years.


However, with the transgender topic, that dynamic isn't quite the same.

While younger people tend to accept it a little more than their 65+ counterparts in each cohort, the partisan divide is still much bigger than the age divide. A 19 year old republican is still less likely to be accepting of it than a 65+ democrat.


Their strategy is the kind of hasty approach is what leads to this kind of thing happening

Bud Light Off-Premise Sales and Volume Decline in 1st Week of Boycott; Impact ‘Rough, Not Catastrophic’

Sales data is out now showing the first week of the conservative-led boycott of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light brand following the world’s largest beer maker’s March Madness activation with Dylan Mulvaney, an influencer who documents her life as a transgender woman.

www.brewbound.com

While declines weren't as drastic as some right-wing influencers were trying to claim (tossing out laughable stats claiming they were down by 80%), they still definitely took a hit from it and other brands saw increases (presumably people switching to a different brand, we'll see if it lasts)

 

[NxNW]

While declines weren't as drastic as some right-wing influencers were trying to claim (tossing out laughable stats claiming they were down by 80%), they still definitely took a hit from it and other brands saw increases (presumably people switching to a different brand, we'll see if it lasts)

The stock is the highest it's been in a year.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

The stock is the highest it's been in a year.

Stock prices aren't always tied to sales. And in some cases, the stock price itself is a delayed indicator. (meaning a dip in off-premise sales this week isn't going to necessarily be reflected in the form of a stock price drop tomorrow)


And to be precise, their stock price was $66.73 at the end of March. I believe the original Instagram post was April 1st (which is why some people thought it was an April Fool's prank initially), but by April 8th, it was below $65, and by April 12th, it was $63.38.

 

[Say it aint so]

Meh....during the Colin Kaepernick anthem kneeling I remember all those who said they were done with the NFL, they will never go to or watch another game. Now the NFL is bigger and stronger than ever. This is will go the same direction.

 

[DaisyDay]

Sure, Hilary Clinton could teach us all a lesson or two. Like calling voters deplorables

She specified who it was that she thought were deplorable - people who are bigots, racists and misogynistic whether they vote or not. So you have to wonder at the folk who feel insulted, what are they confessing to?

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Meh....during the Colin Kaepernick anthem kneeling I remember all those who said they were done with the NFL, they will never go to or watch another game. Now the NFL is bigger and stronger than ever. This is will go the same direction.

I would hesitate to make that prediction.

The level of market control the NFL has over pro-football far exceeds that which Budweiser has over beer.

If you want to watch pro football on TV, your only choice is the NFL (maybe the XFL if someone's desperate). The same isn't true for the beer market...it's not like any of the national beer brands have the same kind of monopoly the NFL has.

It's a lot easier for a person to keep up their "stick-to-itiveness" for a boycott when, there's not only 2 other major competitors on the national level, but also dozens of local craft breweries (that make a superior product) in almost every major city in the US. You can't throw a rock in a major city these days without hitting a local brewery (many of which also have at least some level of market presence in grocery stores in the region)

I don't have any particular axe to grind against Budweiser (for this or anything other marketing endeavor they've had)...but I haven't touched a Bud/Bud Light (or Coors or Miller for that matter) in probably 10 years. There are easily a 8-10 (likely more) breweries in the Northeast Ohio area that make a far superior product, and whose products are widely available throughout almost every grocery store and convenience store in the area. For those of us who are craft beer fans, we're living in the golden age of craft breweries. I've been working from the road and traveling all over the place in US and Canada for the last six months. Checking out the craft breweries in all of the random cities is something I look forward to.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I don't know how to fix this post in the wrong place........

These days a bigot/racist/misogynist is anyone who disagrees with the view of the accuser. That's the problem. In Australia, crime is not being investigated when committed individuals of a certain racial group. Why? For fear of being called racist. So the problems escalate while the police and courts prevaricate. The casualty in everything that is woke and progressive is truth.

 

[returnn23]

Some people do have an axe to grind.

https://www.thestreet.com/retailers/budweisers-latest-contentious-move-has-made-a-bad-situation-worse

 

[DaisyDay]

@Aussie Pete - in the upper right-hand corner, to the left of Preview and the left of the "save" icon is "[ ]" which toggles edit mode. Try toggling that so you can see all the code symbols (the stuff in square brackets). I find it a lot easier to do "fixing" in that mode. You can toggle back if you want to get back to WYSIWYG (haven't seen that acronym in a decade or so).

These days a bigot/racist/misogynist is anyone who disagrees with the view of the accuser.

That isn't true. A bigot/racist/misogynist is one who says and does bigoted, racist and/or misogynistic stuff.

That's the problem. In Australia, crime is not being investigated when committed individuals of a certain racial group.

It's different here where the crime is not investigated if the victim is deemed unworthy.

Why? For fear of being called racist. So the problems escalate while the police and courts prevaricate.

The police and the courts in Australia lie?

The casualty in everything that is woke and progressive is truth.

I think that is a misunderstanding of what "woke" and "progressive" actually mean.

 

[Pommer]

[tag axed] - in the upper right-hand corner, to the left of Preview and the left of the "save" icon is "[ ]" which toggles edit mode. Try toggling that so you can see all the code symbols (the stuff in square brackets). I find it a lot easier to do "fixing" in that mode. You can toggle back if you want to get back to WYSIWYG (haven't seen that acronym in a decade or so).

Thank you @DaisyDay as I had lost the “keep/delete draft” button (which is hidden behind two clicks) and could not figure out where it had gone.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

The stock is the highest it's been in a year.

Since 2021, actually.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Some people do have an axe to grind.

https://www.thestreet.com/retailers/budweisers-latest-contentious-move-has-made-a-bad-situation-worse

Why do people care some much about a transgender woman having a job? Who really care?

 

[returnn23]

Why do people care some much about a transgender woman having a job? Who really care

They obviously care. I think it has something to do with a trans woman not actually being a woman. As I wrote elsewhere, I worked in a hospital, had two doctors explain the procedure to me, and saw a female employee try to transition to being a man. She was still a woman.

As much as a person might think of themselves as the opposite of who they were born as, the biology remains the same. The woman in my example dressed like a man and grew a mustache but was still a woman biologically.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Why do people care some much about a transgender woman having a job? Who really care?

I don't think anyone cares if a trans woman has a job or not.

I think it has more to do with picking someone in particular that's been something of a polarizing figure (that some have viewed as borderline obnoxious based on past statements and actions) who a large portion of the consumer base isn't a fan of.

I'll bump my own previous post for context:
*********************************************************************************
I had started a separate thread about this (this thread is more about the marketing aspect, mine was about the reactions it was getting from people).

I had pointed out where Coors, Miller, and Bud had all done various pride-themed cans for the past several years now, and there wasn't nearly this type of backlash over it.

I think there are a couple different dynamics at play here.

One being, those efforts were aimed at recognizing a demographic as a whole (in a sense of wanting equal rights and inclusion), as to where this one was prominently featuring one particular person from that group who happens to be a rather be polarizing person due to past and recent comments and actions that some find to be obnoxious.

Example: If there were a wine brand with a traditionally left-leaning customer base... It'd be the difference between having a special bottle for the month of May commemorating Jewish American Heritage month as a whole with a generic symbol like the Star of David, vs. putting out a bottle with a big smirking picture of Ben Shapiro on it, it'd be understandable why some people who were regular purchasers of that brand would feel a tad insulted by that.


The other thing is just the overall comfort level Americans have with these topics. While many have come around (even on the GOP side) to concepts like marriage equality, equal protections in the workplace, preventing housing discrimination, etc... Many people aren't comfortable with a trans influencer who dances around in a pair of tight shorts while singing a song about "normalizing the bulge".
*************************************************************************************

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Even with that in mind, I would still have to question the approach in just a pure marketing strategy sense.

I'm one who firmly believes that you have to plan for the future and any marketing exec or strategist worth their salt has to be taking into account shifting attitudes and opinions. (it's the reason why I've been critical of the GOP continuing to pander to the ideas of the religious right of the 80's when that's not where the next generation is on many of those issues)

But that's typically a careful phased approach that doesn't involve ripping off the association to the current target audience like a bandaid, and hoping the new target audience picks it up immediately. And usually it needs to be something that's more of a generational difference in ideologies and not one that's purely political.

For instance, marijuana legalization is a topic that's age component is stronger than it's political component:
View attachment 330341

Meaning, it definitely trends by age, and you're more likely to find a 25 year old republican who supports it than you would be a democrat over 50 who supports it. Which means, if you're a brand that's been catering to an anti-marijuana stance or message, it may be time for a strategy adjustment if you don't want to lose your business in 20 years.


However, with the transgender topic, that dynamic isn't quite the same.
View attachment 330342
View attachment 330343

While younger people tend to accept it a little more than their 65+ counterparts in each cohort, the partisan divide is still much bigger than the age divide. A 19 year old republican is still less likely to be accepting of it than a 65+ democrat.


Their strategy is the kind of hasty approach is what leads to this kind of thing happening

Bud Light Off-Premise Sales and Volume Decline in 1st Week of Boycott; Impact ‘Rough, Not Catastrophic’

Sales data is out now showing the first week of the conservative-led boycott of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light brand following the world’s largest beer maker’s March Madness activation with Dylan Mulvaney, an influencer who documents her life as a transgender woman.

www.brewbound.com

While declines weren't as drastic as some right-wing influencers were trying to claim (tossing out laughable stats claiming they were down by 80%), they still definitely took a hit from it and other brands saw increases (presumably people switching to a different brand, we'll see if it lasts)

As somebody who’s degree is in statistical analysis and trending, let me point out the flaws in the data.

The first major one being that the data only categorizes Republicans and Democrats, not libertarians, undecided/undeclared, or other third party people. I am undeclared and my data would not be captured on that graph about transgender acceptance.

The second issue is that your interpretation pre-supposes that there are an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. If there is 1.5 Democrat per 1 Republican (and young voters are trending to 1.5 to 2 Democrats per 1 Republican), then there is overwhelming statistical support for “transgender support” (more on that in a second).

Third, if we are going to assume all parts being equal and there is a 1-to-1 Democrat/Republican split, the numbers still overwhelmingly support transgender acceptance. When you add the key demographic of 18-29 and 30-49 that support transgender causes from both Democrats and Republicans, they far outnumber those who don’t support.

Fourth, the question in the poll is vague and ambiguous. What does “support” mean? It’s unlikely whatever the definition is refers to if those polled would or wouldn’t buy a brand that has a transgender influencer, but more likely it refers to things like the “don’t say gay” or gender/conversion therapy. That is entirely different than seeing if people would buy a product that had among its stable a transgender influencer.

Fifth, even if we were to assume it does cover if people would buy from companies with transgender influencers, the “don’t care/no opinion” demographic is vital here. Considering they are neutral, they’re not likely going to participate in the boycott of a brand over transgender representation so it’s a fair assumption that they’d still buy a product with a trans influencer. With that in mind, it is statistically overwhelming the number of people who wouldn’t disengage from a company over trans support.

And finally, the statistics in the above chart are highly cultivated. Very bad and somewhat bad are two totally different valuations that can’t be lumped together. Same with somewhat good and very good. I’d like to see the numbers broken down to something more transparent than “awful and kind of awful” and “kind of good and spectacular.” I mean, if you went to the doctor and said “give it to me straight” and they said “I have news that is extremely bad/sort of bad,” you’d think that’s two totally different prognoses.

When it comes to social issues, the idea that companies must slowly ease into it is old thinking. There is far more to be lost in walking the line and fence sitting than there is declaring a stance. The principle behind it is actually called the ice cream or Ben and Jerry’s effect and it has been studied in marketing over the last several decades… It’s the principle that states that you’re either all in or all out with social justice issues and in tight markets it can be the fastest way to distinguish yourself and show transparency.

And the idea that you only succeed if you attract new customers while keeping your core customers is also a dead business concept that has lead to the demise of a number of businesses from Kmart to Radio Shack to Sears. Many times the quickest and best way to grow is by cutting ties with the core customers and attracting new ones. The core demographic that has been serving this beer company has been in a freefall since 2018/2019. The core demographic isn’t enough and hasn’t been enough to maintain their market share in quite awhile.

What probably happened in a board room somewhere when they took on this new CEO was the blatantly obvious realization that said “hmmmm… If we do this, we will lose X number of our demographic, but will gain X times three back in new customers” and they realized it was common sense to take on a trans influencer.

 

[returnn23]

Oh please. Any "hot button" issue is a hot button issue. Those who support transgender are going to be for it, those who don't will not. It's not more complicated. And it has nothing to do with "common sense." People know a "trans woman" is not a woman. And when they see people on the news refer to a trans woman as she, what does that tell them?

"Many times the quickest and best way to grow is by cutting ties with the core customers and attracting new ones."

That is pure nonsense. A gross simplification. We're talking about beer here. If I am for transgender but don't like beer, I'm going to start drinking it?

This level of faulty thinking suggests the writer is missing key points. Points that would have been brought up in any legitimate marketing strategy meeting.

"show transparency" A piece of plastic has transparency. Most companies keep their marketing strategies close to the vest to keep their competitors in the dark about their next marketing move.

 

[FireDragon76]

I had started a separate thread about this (this thread is more about the marketing aspect, mine was about the reactions it was getting from people).

I had pointed out where Coors, Miller, and Bud had all done various pride-themed cans for the past several years now, and there wasn't nearly this type of backlash over it.

I think there are a couple different dynamics at play here.

One being, those efforts were aimed at recognizing a demographic as a whole (in a sense of wanting equal rights and inclusion), as to where this one was prominently featuring one particular person from that group who happens to be a rather be polarizing person due to past and recent comments and actions that some find to be obnoxious.

What has Mulvaney really done that could be considered particularly obnoxious? I've seen many other influencers doing the exact same things. Or is the issue, who she is?

Example: If there were a wine brand with a traditionally left-leaning customer base... It'd be the difference between having a special bottle for the month of May commemorating Jewish American Heritage month as a whole with a generic symbol like the Star of David, vs. putting out a bottle with a big smirking picture of Ben Shapiro on it, it'd be understandable why some people who were regular purchasers of that brand would feel a tad insulted by that.

Bud Light is owned by Busch (now InBev), it isn't owned by Red America.

 

[Say it aint so]

I would hesitate to make that prediction.

The level of market control the NFL has over pro-football far exceeds that which Budweiser has over beer.

If you want to watch pro football on TV, your only choice is the NFL (maybe the XFL if someone's desperate). The same isn't true for the beer market...it's not like any of the national beer brands have the same kind of monopoly the NFL has.

It's a lot easier for a person to keep up their "stick-to-itiveness" for a boycott when, there's not only 2 other major competitors on the national level, but also dozens of local craft breweries (that make a superior product) in almost every major city in the US. You can't throw a rock in a major city these days without hitting a local brewery (many of which also have at least some level of market presence in grocery stores in the region)

I don't have any particular axe to grind against Budweiser (for this or anything other marketing endeavor they've had)...but I haven't touched a Bud/Bud Light (or Coors or Miller for that matter) in probably 10 years. There are easily a 8-10 (likely more) breweries in the Northeast Ohio area that make a far superior product, and whose products are widely available throughout almost every grocery store and convenience store in the area. For those of us who are craft beer fans, we're living in the golden age of craft breweries. I've been working from the road and traveling all over the place in US and Canada for the last six months. Checking out the craft breweries in all of the random cities is something I look forward to.

I understand what your saying. But to me, if one principals and conviction is so strong then it shouldn't matter the number of alternative choices. In the end, this will just ebb away.

 

[Nithavela]

Now Budweiser is basically stamping the american flag on their cans and hoping that this will make people gulp it down.

Come on, public of america. Prove them right. Drink the freedom juice. It's patriotic.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

What has Mulvaney really done that could be considered particularly obnoxious? I've seen many other influencers doing the exact same things. Or is the issue, who she is?

I would say the song and dance about "embracing the bulge" (whilst wearing a pair of wearing the tight shorts that accentuate said body part) would be one for starters.