One year after its first “America” label summer promotion experienced a solid launch, but couldn’t apparently sustain itself, a repeat of that campaign is off to a gradual, but seemingly more sustainable and successful, trajectory, according to YouGov BrandIndex, the only daily brand consumer perception research service.
Perhaps as a sign of its recent success, Budweiser just announced it is putting the names of the states in which its breweries are located on bottles and cans.
Last summer, Budweiser’s perception metrics began rising when the campaign was announced on May 10, 2016. However, they peaked just one week after the promotional bottles and cans hit the shelves on May 23rd, and continued to decline through June and July. Mirroring that trend, purchase consideration slid from 16% of adults considering buying Budweiser the next time they bought beer down to 13% in the same time frame.
Fast forward to the end of May 2017: Budweiser is near its lowest perception point in more than four years. Budweiser and its sister brand, Bud Light, are experiencing drops in beer demand not seen since after the financial crisis. The parent company announces the same summer patriotic packaging on bottles and cans, along with a special “camouflage” design.
Almost six weeks later, Budweiser’s perception score is close to its 2017 high and above where it was 12 months ago. Perhaps more importantly, Budweiser’s purchase consideration rose from 12% of adults considering buying Bud the next time they buy beer to its current 15%, also higher than this time last year.
What is different about this year? For one, there is no contentious presidential campaign with which to compete, so the patriotic message may be cutting through the clutter more. The camouflage-ornamented bottles and cans, new this time around, may also be striking a chord with military families and supporters.
For consumer perception scores, YouGov BrandIndex measured Budweiser with its Buzz score, which asks respondents "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"
A score can range from -100 to 100 with a zero score equaling a neutral position.
Budweiser: Consideration
