Bud Light has put its creative account up for review for its portfolio of brands, including Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer and Bud Light Next.

Wieden+Kennedy, which previously ran the account through its New York office, confirmed it was invited to participate in the review but declined the opportunity. The agency held the account since 2015 and will continue to work on Budweiser global, Michelob Ultra, Corona, NUTRL and the Anheuser-Busch brand.

“As the brand marks its 40th anniversary, Bud Light will be reviewing its creative business as it continues its mission to build authentic and engaging connections with its consumers,” Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement. “We anticipate this process concluding later this fall.”

The news comes as the brewer has gone through some marketing changes. Last year, AB InBev named Benoit Garbe as its new U.S. chief marketing officer, replacing Marcel Marcondes who was elevated to the role of global CMO in April. In March, AB InBev hired Publicis for U.S. media. Also, Andy Goeler, a longtime Anheuser-Busch employee who has recently steered Bud Light as the brand’s marketing VP, recently announced his retirement. And former Labatt division President Kyle Norrington was appointed to the new role of U.S. chief commercial officer, overseeing U.S. sales and marketing, concurrent with Garbe’s appointment in September. 

This is the latest big account to move on from Wieden+Kennedy. In February, KFC named MullenLowe as its U.S. creative agency.

Changing tastes

AB InBev has been hustling to keep up with the changing tastes of U.S. consumers who in recent years have turned in droves to malt- and liquor-based cocktails.

Marcondes in a recent interview with Ad Age said about 50% of the company’s business in so-called “Beyond Beer” categories was incremental, coming from consumers who weren’t regular users of its traditional beer items. “I think there was a day when we could see this trending and say, ‘that’s nice, but we do beer.’ But because we’re adopting a mindset of putting people first and adjusting what we make to really make sure we serve their needs better than anyone else, we decided to embrace it.”

Bud Light has been one of AB InBev’s leading vehicles to capture these emerging categories, launching a line of hard seltzers in 2019 and expanding with new flavor varieties ever since, including a Hard Soda line it promoted in a Super Bowl commercial this year starring Food Network star Guy Fieri heading an ongoing “Loudest Flavors Ever” campaign. That campaign came from W+K New York. 

AB InBev spent $127 million on U.S. measured media for Bud Light in 2021, a 2.4% decline from $130 million in 2020, according to Kantar. That spending included line extensions such as Chelada and seltzer. 

In a recent report based on its consumer research, the online alcohol retailer Drizly said hard seltzers (20%) were second only to ready-to-drink cocktails (22%) among canned drinks consumers intended to purchase more of in 2022. Canned lagers—like Bud Light—was third, with 11% of customers preparing to buy more.

News of the review was previously reported by Adweek.