It is believed that the agency will continue to work on
Budweiser outside the U.S. AB InBev did not respond to a request
for comment by press time.
Ad Age first reported news of the still-underway review in August. At the time, it was understood that
the marketer was looking for agencies to submit creative ideas for
U.S. branding work likely to begin in 2012. It is not known now
whether the scope of the review has changed, or what other
agencies, if any, have been cut. Agencies said to be involved in
the review include CP&B,
McGarryBowen,
Droga5 and possibly
others.
The marketer is also searching for a U.S. media shop to handle
research and planning in tandem with the company's in-house Busch
Media Group, which will continue to lead domestic media-buying and
-planning efforts.
The searches for new agencies come after Paul Chibe joined the
marketer in June as VP-marketing. On the DDB front, Peter
McGuinness joined the agency as president-CEO just as the review
was getting underway. Signs of strain between the
brand and the agency's Chicago office had been evident for some
time -- other North American DDB offices were pitching in on the
review despite the fact that the Midwest hub had long been the
account's headquarters.
Bud Light is the biggest ad-spending account in all of beer,
with more than $276 million in measured media spending in 2010,
according to Kantar Media.
It has struggled in the economic downturn, but it remains by far
the best-selling beer in the U.S., commanding 19.1% market share at
the end of 2010, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. Recently,
grocery sales picked up 1.55% in the year ending Aug. 7, according
to SymphonyIRI, which excludes liquor stores and Walmart from the
data.
