THE SITUATION

Budweiser Select was a low-calorie, low-carb light beer that launched with a splash during the 2006 Super Bowl. But by 2011, Select’s national profile (and sales) had dimmed considerably for two reasons: 1) media and marketing support had slowed to a trickle and 2) Consumers weren’t clear on what the brand was, as “light beer” messaging had been avoided in the past to differentiate it from Bud Light.

Despite all of this, Select was still extremely popular in pockets of the Midwest, and the brand’s managers wanted to reignite interest in other strong light beer markets.  

THE SOLUTION

Using IMC methodology, I led the brand/agency team effort to developed a new positioning and target market for Select. I eventually developed the chosen new brand essence – “Good Times, Grown Up”. The goal was to strip away the sophomoric and unsophisticated imagery associated with light beer, and present Budweiser Select as a tasteful, refreshing challenger to spirits, wine and craft beer.

Speaking of craft beers – they were starting to really take off at this time. So thecreative spoke to this phenomenon, and I positioned Select as having the taste profile to compliment a night of craft beer drinking. Basically, Select knows it’s not your only beer, but it wants to be your light beer.

The integrated re-launch campaign included pre-roll videos, OOH, radio, print and targeted social media buys. 

 

THE RESULTS

  • In markets with the full media mix, like Dallas, the campaign increased purchase intent by 6 points

  • Overall “favorite brand” status increased by 7 points.

  • “Is A Premium Light Beer” attribute – a key KPI – increased by 13 point

  • Other key KPIs – including “is a brand for someone like me”, is a “high quality brand” and “is in tune with today’s beer drinkers” all improved by 11 points.   

 

WHAT I LEARNED

  • How to utilize and lead an IMC-style Brand Essence process to successful, actionable results.

  • The IMC process involves determining Functional Benefits, Emotional Benefits, Reasons To Believe, Brand Personality Traits, Need States, Values and Demand Segments to ultimately arrive at a Brand Essence.

  • Focus groups can be heavily influenced by the personalities present in the room. 

  • The advantage of not having on-screen talent speak dialogue; by having our talent’s “voice” appear as an inner monologue, we were able to create additional video content in post-production.