Category Bud Light V P Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid

Jul 24 2023

Interesting Report Noting Bud Light Regional Sales Pattern – California Sales Minimally Disrupted by Boycott, While National Sales Drop 34.2%


Posted originally on the CTH on July 23, 2023 | Sundance 

Finding solid information, accurate data, to update the perspective of the ongoing boycott of Bud Light products is a little challenging. You would think the data would be easily found; alas, in this era of hyper partisanship, data that would reflect the truth of the situation is less visible. Go figure.

That said, this market share report from Union does give us a little more perspective on the outcome.  According to the market share report, the decline in Bud Light sales overall is 34.2% over the past six months.  Interestingly, some regions have much larger declines than others. For California, “Union reported only minor changes in market dominance in the state. Bud Light’s sales share in California slid by 0.8 points to 6.6%, while Miller Lite’s sales share increased by 1.7 points to 12%.”

(Via MSM) – The hospitality consumption data platform Union reported a significant decline in Bud Light’s sales share in the Carolinas. From April through June 30, the brand’s sales share dropped by 6.9 points, falling from 19.4% to 12.5%. This decline has been attributed to the fallout from Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, which sparked controversy and calls for a boycott.

[…] Local bar owners in the Carolinas have also reported a significant impact on Bud Light’s sales. For instance, Chris Dimattia, the owner of Recovery Room Tavern in Charleston, SC, mentioned that he used to sell 10 cases of Bud Light each week, but now only sells one to three cases of the boycott brew, resulting in a 70% to 90% drop in sales. At Blind Tiger Pub, another Charleston bar, Bud Light sales are described as “almost non-existent” by general manager Clayton Dukes. Dukes expressed his concern that the boycott may persist for an extended period, prompting him to replace Bud Light draft with Michelob Ultra due to the low sales.

The negative impact on Bud Light’s sales was not limited to the Carolinas. In New York and New Jersey, the brand also lost ground to its rival, Miller Lite. The combined sales share of Bud Light in these states fell by 5.1 points, while Miller Lite’s sales share increased by about two points.

Similarly, in Texas, where Bud Light faced significant challenges after the controversy, Miller Lite now holds a commanding 12% sales share, more than double that of Bud Light’s 5.6% share.  Surprisingly, the boycott’s impact on Bud Light sales was negligible in California, where Mulvaney hails from. Union reported only minor changes in market dominance in the state. Bud Light’s sales share in California slid by 0.8 points to 6.6%, while Miller Lite’s sales share increased by 1.7 points to 12%.

[…] Bud Light’s significant sales slide by 34.2% over the past six months has put the brand in a challenging position. The fallout from Mulvaney’s controversial posts and the subsequent partnership has evidently had a negative impact on the brand’s sales and reputation. (full article)

It would be interesting to map out the percentage change in Budweiser market share and overlay with a comparative map of regional political affiliation.

Regardless of the company ability to overcome the challenge, a total decline in sales of 34.2% over the six-month period would indicate the brand will not soon recover position.   Going woke has consequences.

Jul 12 2023

UPDATE: Modelo Tops Bud Light in Latest Sales Report Just Before Key July 4th Holiday – Bud Light Sales Trend -28.5%


Posted originally on the CTH on July 11, 2023 | Sundance 

Anheuser Busch continues to lose market share according to the latest statistics shared by Bump Williams consulting firm. In the key period just before the July 4th holiday, sales of Bud Light dropped another 28.5% compared to the prior year.

The initial sales decline which began in April continues.  The ongoing boycott against Bud Light appears to be holding firm.

CNN – […] For the four weeks ending on July 1, Modelo Especial captured 8.7% of overall beer sales, compared to Bud Light’s 7% share, according to NIQ data given to consulting firm Bump Williams. Dollar sales for the pre-July 4 period continued to be grim for Bud Light, with sales falling 28.5%, while Modelo’s grew 8.5% during the same time period. (more)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uj5anFBu-d0%3Ffeature%3Doembed
May 19 2023

Bud Light Sales Worsening, -23.3% in Week Five of Widespread Boycott


Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance 

In the fifth week since the Bud Light backlash began, the latest scan data released shows a worsening drop in sales.   The overall trend now shows Bud Light has lost a full quarter of its market position, dropping 23.6% in unit volume and -27.7% in dollar sales.

Despite these dollar losses, the parent company does not seem willing to address the root cause.  Despite North American sales impacts, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding.  It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

(Washington Examiner) – Bud Light sales are down for a fifth straight week as the financial beating endured by the Anheuser-Busch brand following its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney appears to have no end in sight.

Sales of Bud Light fell 23.6% for the week ending on May 6 compared to numbers recorded in 2022, according to a report citing data acquired by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. (read more)

Previously – Across the United States, wholesalers are on the hook for inventories of Bud Light and Budweiser products that no one is buying.  These products have an expiration date, thanks in part to the A/B freshness campaign long ago created.  The wholesalers have to swap out the close-dated products that are not being sold in retailers and restaurants.  The wholesalers are then stuck with out-of-date product and turn back to the corporate office for help.

From reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch (A/B) is telling the wholesalers to give the product free to their employees rather than dump it.  By law, they cannot give it away to consumers, and they cannot cross promote the beer by “bundling” alcohol with another CPG product (ie, buy chips, get free beer).

The story is being promoted as A/B being magnanimous in giving the beer to the employees; however, in reality as the product hits its expiration or sell-by date, A/B only has that option, other than to dump it in the garbage and recycle the containers.

May 13 2023

Anheuser-Busch Tells Beer Distributors Not to Worry, This Too Shall Pass


May 12, 2023 | Sundance 

Last week it was reported that Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told investors during a conference call that Budweiser product sales drops in the U.S. and North America were no big deal when contrast against the global sales of the brand. “The Bud Light volume decline in the US over the first three weeks of April, as publicly reported, would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period,” Doukeris said on the call. He focused attention on the company’s global reach, saying that Bud Light is just one beer within its portfolio and it’s not changing the company’s full-year outlook. {link}

Apparently, USA beer drinkers, specifically those who do not want to be identified as transgender men, are an insignificant bunch amid the world of beer drinking consumers.  However, Doukeris might start paying a little more attention as the decline in total A-B products in North America is starting to become more significant. {Source}

It’s interesting that Coors Light and Miller Lite have sales increases surpassing the sales decline of Bud Light.   This would seem to indicate hard brand switches, but Anheuser-Busch in North America held the corporate line and yesterday {source} told their distributors not to worry.

ST. LOUIS – Anheuser-Busch’s distributors from around the country met in St. Louis on Thursday. They heard firsthand about changes being made regarding the Bud Light transgender controversy.

Anheuser-Busch invited the distributors to the downtown Hyatt hotel for a yearly meeting on summer marketing plans. It was the first such meeting since transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s viral social media posts with Bud Light in early April. She received a special edition can with her picture on it. 

Market analysts report Bud Light sales are still down more than 20% for the past month. Bud Light boycotts appear to be driving down sales of fellow Anheuser-Busch brands like Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, which are down but not as sharply. 

[…] They appeared to adopt a “deflect and downplay” strategy, which almost never works. […] An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson confirms the company informed distributors of major changes in marketing structure, issuing the following statement: 

“We regularly bring our wholesaler partners and leadership together to share upcoming brand and business plans. Hosting our May meeting in St. Louis is something we started last year and is an opportunity to bring our partners together in our hometown. 

We have communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners. First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. Second, Todd Allen was appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to Benoit Garbe, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer. Third, we made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”

Anheuser-Busch and its distributors have also sent letters to bars and other retailers explaining the situation, pointing out that a single marketing official engaged with Mulvaney. (read more)  

As you can tell so far, despite the significant North American impacts to the products, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding.  It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

As noted by Dustin Smith, a business professor at Webster University who teaches college students how to manage the woke transition in corporate life, “the brewer has been supporting “Pride” events for years with no backlash. Smith predicted its brands would recover and most of its core customers would return.” {link}

Comrades, the global command and control authorities have spoken.  The tranny fluid will continue to be supported until such time as those NASCAR watching, line dancing rednecks capitulate and start drinking it again.   Look for significant ad buys on Twitter soon.

Keep watching.

May 4 2023

With Sales Crushed, Anheuser Bush Tells Wholesalers to Give Bud Light Beer Away Free to Employees Before Expiration Date


Posted originally on the CTH on May 3, 2023 | Sundance 

Here we go.  Hard data is now starting to surface showing the devastating impact of the Anheuser-Busch decision to rebrand Budweiser products as the beer for the transgender community.   The #1 and #2 best selling beers in the United States are now fully rebranded to consumers and destroyed.  Now we see the ramifications.

The irony of Budweiser creating the “born on” date and freshness date system in the beer industry is just too damned funny, here’s why.

Across the United States, wholesalers are on the hook for inventories of Bud Light and Budweiser products that no one is buying.  These products have an expiration date, thanks in part to the previously mentioned freshness campaign long ago created.  The wholesalers have to swap out the close-dated products that are not being sold in retailers and restaurants.  The wholesalers are then stuck with out-of-date product, and turn back to the corporate office for help.

From reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch (A/B) is telling the wholesalers to give the product free to their employees rather than dump it.  By law, they cannot give it away to consumers, and they cannot cross promote the beer by “bundling” alcohol with another CPG product (ie, buy chips, get free beer).

The story is being promoted as A/B being magnanimous in giving the beer to the employees; however, in reality as the product hits its expiration or sell-by date, A/B only has that option, other than to dump it in the garbage and recycle the containers.  There is so much unsold inventory, data below, they are now giving it away (lol).

DATA – “In the week ended April 22, Bud Light’s U.S. retail-store sales fell 21.4% compared with the year-earlier period, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by Bump Williams Consulting. Meanwhile, sales of rival brands Coors Light and Miller Lite each grew about 21%.”  It’s not just Bud Light collapsing, it’s the faceplate brands for all Budweiser products. “Sales of other Anheuser-Busch brands declined, too, including Budweiser, Busch Light and Michelob Ultra, according to Bump Williams.”

At a cursory glance you might think a 21.4% sales drop is not as significant as you would think or hope.  However, that doesn’t fully tell the entire story.

Keep in mind, this data is only the initial evaluation of year-over-year sales impact, and this data is national. Regionally, where the beer drinking is heaviest, the amount of sales loss is much higher.

Bud Light and Bud are the #1 and #2 products across the entire beer industry.  Within the A/B wholesaler’s sales book, those two brands likely represent well over half of all their retail beer sales combined (‘well over’, and I’m being generously low in the estimate).

It depends on the region and wholesaler product mix, but Bud and Bud Light easily make up more than half of the specific portfolio of distributor gross product sales.

When the #1 and #2 products that consist of more than half your gross revenue drop by 20 to 25%, essentially the value of your company has just dropped by the same percentage.   A $50 million beer distributorship, now worth $40 million and falling fast.

Additionally, and worse still for the parent company, the sales of the competitor products have increased by the same amount as the collapse in the targeted brand.  Coors Light and Miller Lite have picked up all the customers.   This is what’s known as a “hard brand switch;” meaning it’s likely to be very difficult – if not impossible – to regain brand position.

A/B just gave Coors and Miller brands their biggest sales increase in history, and that increase is likely permanent as beer drinkers solidify brand use.  This is why you are starting to see such urgent action in response by the U.S. parent company AB Inbev.    However, Bud and Bud Light have created a no-win position, as they are now being targeted by the transgender community activists for failing to support their Tranny Beer rebranding effort strongly enough.

[Washington, The Hill] “In a letter sent this week to Anheuser-Busch’s head of human resources, Jay Brown, a senior vice president at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, slammed the company’s response to the controversy as insufficient and cowardly.  “In this moment, it is absolutely critical for Anheuser-Busch to stand in solidarity with Dylan and the trans community,” reads the April 26 letter obtained by The Hill.

“However, when faced with anti-LGBTQ+ and transphobic criticism, Anheuser-Busch’s actions demonstrate a profound lack of fortitude in upholding its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion to employees, customers, shareholders and the LGBTQ+ community.”  […] According to the HRC letter, the group is preparing to lower Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing 100 percent Corporate Equality Index score, a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits relevant to LGBTQ employees. (read more)

As noted in the Wall Street Journal, “They didn’t need to take this risk,” one distributor said, adding that he was worried the brand might now swing back in the other direction. “I lost my cowboy bars and now I could lose my gay bars, too.”  – Sorry, but this is just too darned funny.

Bud and Bud Light beer inventories are piling up.  The product is now going out of date due to lack of sales.  Beer drinkers do not want to be viewed with weird side-eye looks if they pick up a Budweiser product in a bar.  Retail consumers are walking past the product.   Regional wholesalers, seeing their distributorships being destroyed, are calling the home office looking for help.

Meanwhile, the alphabet activists are stomping their feet and riding their bicycles in slow circles at the bottom of the Anheuser Bush corporate offices, glaring in the windows while telling Budweiser they need to worry about their feelings.   {{{I cannot stop laughing}}}

[…] Anheuser-Busch has declined several meeting requests from [Human Rights Council] in the wake of right-wing pushback over its partnership with Mulvaney, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

The letter also recommends that Anheuser-Busch meet with its LGBTQ employees to discuss and “understand their concerns” and conduct workplace transgender inclusion training for company executives.” (link)

Anheuser Bush’s solution?

Screw it… we’re f**ked, just give it away!

[Wall Street Journal]

Apr 22 2023

Bud Light Marketing VP Replaced Following Controversial Transgender Rebranding Effort, Heinerschied Now On Leave of Absence


Posted originally on the CTH on April 21, 2023 | Sundance 

Well, this is interesting.  We are now two more weeks into the consequence phase of Bud Light VP of Marketing Mrs. Alissa Heinerscheid rebranding the formerly popular beer as a beverage for transgender and transvestite beer drinkers. {Go Deep}

There is still very little empirical evidence of the financial outcome.  There are anecdotal reports of diminished sales; however, VP of Bud Light marketing, Mrs. Heinerscheid, has now been replaced.  This would seem to indicate the brand damage is structural, and the financial ramifications are going to be long lasting.

The traditional beer drinking consumer is no longer buying Budweiser Light products, because the new brand image of “tranny fluid,” a beer for transgender drinkers, creates the side-eye from other people if a beer drinker is noticed holding one.  Using the free rainbow koozie doesn’t seem to help the problem.

The information comes from Ad Age, an insider trade magazine that tracks all things that happen in and around the advertising and marketing world.

VIA Ad Age – Anheuser-Busch InBev has changed marketing leadership for Bud Light in the wake of controversy over the brand sending a can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney with her face on it.

Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP for the brand since June 2022, has taken a leave of absence, the brewer confirmed, and will be replaced by Todd Allen, who was most recently global marketing VP for Budweiser. Heinerscheid did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The brewer has also streamlined its marketing function to reduce layers “so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand’s activities,” a company spokesperson said in a statement, adding that “these steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”

The statement noted that “we communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners,” adding that “we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. (read more)

STATEMENT FROM Anheuser-Busch:

...”“Today, we communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners,” per A-B spokesperson. “First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority.

Second, Todd Allen is appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to Benoit Garbe, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer.

Third, we have made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities.

These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”.. [source]

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“Guys, come back, I identify as a Platypus now” !