Bud Light as a Marketing Element of the Beer Industry - Research Paper Example

Bud Light as a Marketing Element of the Beer Industry Introduction The beer industry in the United s is driven by major market players with the resources and dedication to marketing competence. Major competition, for the entire industry, includes such brands/companies as Coors, Corona, and Heineken. Large multinational organizations dominate the U.S. market with active and measurable discussion in media releases about their competitive stand in reference to other brewers. In some instances, these are companies with significant debt looking for new methods of diversification or alteration of brand strategy in order to compete. For other brewers, the communications style chosen to represent specific beers are more successful than competition, thus improving their per brand sales with a strong attribution toward marketing. For the purpose of this marketing paper, the beer chosen for the most focus is Bud Light, a contributing revenue producer for Anheuser-Busch and a product with concentrated advertising and well-defined brand strategy. Advertising functions as a means of identifying with the consumer, using elements associated with the FCB Planning Model and the Elaboration Likelihood Model in order to outperform smaller and larger brewers in the U.S. Communications with target markets It is necessary to understand the current positioning strategy of Bud Light in comparison to other competitive brands and/or activities in this beer market in order to understand how this particular brand is received by its target consumer. The Anheuser-Busch company has operated over a prolonged period, thus gaining both consumer recognition by brand names alone, as well as through its many publicized activities in relation to corporate social responsibility (anheuser-busch.com, 3). In many different markets, not just the niche market, the name Bud Light is synonymous with many historical brand catch phrases and the product is also deeply rooted in lifestyle at the community and social levels. Though there are other beers in this same category offered by competition, some with similar recognition and preference pre-established, Bud Light builds effective marketing by identifying with consumer behaviors most commonly recognized in their target groups. The Elaboration Likelihood model is based on the premise that attitudes are a predictor of decision-making, with two forms of persuasion, central and peripheral. Under this model, ads contain “cogent reasons” as a central association and the involvement to which a consumer is directed to consider its message, recall the information and their personal judgment (University of Twente, 2). “The receiver is not guided by their assessment of the message, but the receiver follows a principle or decision-rule derived from the persuasion” when peripheral messages guide decision-making (utwente.nl, 2). When the likelihood of elaboration is high, cognitive responses that result are generally favorable toward the advertisement and it generates positive attitudes related to the involvement process (Lien, 302). Thus, consider the following ad from Bud Light, using a cogent theme of productivity and results, offering peripheral information such as attainment of physical fitness: Source: www.gavinbjames.com/14_budlight.html The cogent message is a low calorie drink, with the ability to motivate decision-making based on peripheral information such as goal-setting or calorie reduction using a model for motivation. In this case, the message is decoded successfully based on fundamental principles most closely associated with the Elaboration Likelihood Model. In comparison to other brewers or brands in the U.S., such as Heineken that used quality and reliability positioning in advertisements as a means to sell new package innovations (Cirillo 1795), Bud Light remains consistent and is able to extend the product life cycle considerably by maintaining a brand identity that is synonymous with this lifestyle. Brands such as Miller Lite in this market with the “Less Filling, Tastes Great” message (Mullman, 3) reinforces the importance of using cogent advertising that shows results in relation to its low calorie content. The message is delivered using rational concepts that motivate continued thought on its message that leads to a favorable assessment of the products’ role in the consumer lifestyle. FCB Planning Matrix This marketing matrix segments four different motivational behaviors associated with knowledge about lifestyle positioning and communications. This model describes high involvement purchasers with economic rationale, high involvement with high emotional response, low involvement products such as commodity purchasing with price and convenience a factor, and low involvement based on emotions such as candy, alcohol or cigarettes (businesscoaching.typepad.com 1). What Bud Light has managed to accomplish is much more motivation to consider the ad content, without changing its intended brand identity that has been pre-established for many years. Where this product might have been considered a low involvement purchase, Bud Light decodes the message so that it passes a formal justification process driven by both emotion and high involvement. Factors behind Bud Light Persuasion While the beer industry in the U.S. has been looking for ongoing cost reduction activities, including marketing and labor, promotional programs are declining; advertising remains constant with the large market players (Fuhrman, 12). This is because the brewers are reliant on their previous histories with advertising and consumer loyalty that to decrease advertising would lessen their product’s influence and allow margin for competition to saturate certain key markets with advertising materials. Bud Light has remained dedicated to sending a consistent lifestyle message that drives the brand’s successes and has managed to maintain the leading position in light beer sales (Theodore, 23). This brand does not change its methodology geared toward lifestyle, thus not responding to changing consumer trends as other beers do when there is new price sensitivity in their target markets due to externalities such as the local economy. For example, trends in the mid 2000s were indicating that cocktail consumption and wine would act as a beer substitution (Theodore). Bud Light invested more into advertising and marketing during this period, sending the consistent message consumers were familiar with in scenarios that were flexible yet geared toward similar, known market preferences. Consider the following advertisement from Bud Light, aimed at a similar active market with lifestyle principles associated with peripheral motivation and the central theme of Bud Light as a recreational tool: Source: http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2010/02/super_bowl_census_commercial_2.html This advertisement takes advantage of consumer lifestyle related to excitement and thrill-seeking, offering creative messages with lifestyle-oriented actors that are true with recent brand tradition. Consumers are motivated by their historical knowledge of the brand as well as its flexible momentum in terms of variety at the creative level. Peripheral persuasion in this particular ad is visible through the deviant, yet humorous activity of the ad actor. Lien acknowledged that prior experience and knowledge were significant as a variable in the elaboration likelihood model and this is something that took previous dedication to create in their desired groups. By keeping a consistent message with the flexibility demanded by Bud Light drinkers, it maintains or improves market share over competing products in this category. Television and lifestyle magazine advertising also acts as the appropriate medium for presenting this advertising since the majority of its market will gain exposure to this consistent message through these sources. In essence, Bud Light finds its market and the market does not have to pursue Bud Light, another statement of convenience in its receiving audience. The large players in this market avoid advertising in major league events because of the concentrated promotional and advertising materials found through brewer sponsors or simply associated with comparative resources to competitive marketing. One Miller wholesaler replied, “You don’t want to be someplace where you’ll be totally outnumbered” (Mullman, 2). This suggests that competitive efforts in the communication process based on volume are enough of a driver to avoid large-scale competitive actions in advertising within these events based on known consumer sentiment about brands or their motivation for purchases (the ability to persuade). Long-standing consumer attributes make this process difficult of sending new messages in an outperformance measure, therefore Bud Light remains loyal to its principle message but delivers in a method that remains unique but ever-cogent. Cognitive Processing Under both planning models, the receiving audience is understood and seems to remain constant, giving them the ability to remain true to the brand identity without having to consider repositioning it among competitors. The logical approach to lower calorie beers seems to be the fundamental driver for success in this industry, thus a simpler form of persuading customers under the Elaboration Likelihood Model is necessary. Attitudes and values within the target market group will change, however the fundamental principles behind lifestyle in terms of recreation, socialization and fitness will generally remain. Bud Light capitalizes on this by not altering message, just scenarios and events to represent the product as a tool with a specific purpose and the peripheral advantage of a low calorie beer option. Its previous history with buyers have given the business this type of leverage to swap both messages under ELM in marketing and still produce the same satisfactory result and involvement from the receiver. William provides that if Anheuser-Bush is able to drive sales as shrewdly as its cost-cutting measures, “its shares will be the toast of Wall Street” (Williams, 35). However, in this market boosting sales when expansion outside of the target audience might prove difficult when other market segments value fuller and thicker-bodied flavor or do not like the beer for more than social scenarios. Bud Light would have to forego its cogent message (and its ability to swap peripheral target communications) and create a secondary identity with the new market focus group that could erode the effectiveness of the brand in its target group. However, when the competitive market provides fewer opportunities for growth due to the enormous variety of like competitive products, Bud Light advertisements reinvent specific lifestyle situations. This was something not evident with competing products in similar markets that focus on caloric content or flavor. Bud Light sends the message with assumption that its preferred market groups already understand it has full flavor thus this is not the focus to avoid confusion in achieving stable and sustainable market goals. Bud Light does have a flexible brand identity, however it is strongly associated with socialization in some format, regardless of the decoding process of the message. For some target groups, the message indicates a celebratory brand that is inclusive in the in group, using photos of actors that would fit a lifestyle group with these social preferences. Whether being delivered to young social groups or to active Americans with a taste for beer and less calories, it is presented as a functional tool that should not be reconsidered. Bud Light does not, in any of its messages, isolate competitive failures rather it is a standalone product for recreation. The decision-making process is stable by consumer preference it has established, along with the added motivational emotions largely associated with Bud Light advertising content. At a period where consumer discretionary income is reduced and others are considering price drops as a competitive tool, Bud Light relies on the comprehension it has built in its target buyers and does not deviate, generally, from this message thus not cheapening its impact in persuasion or in its relation to lifestyle. Consumer cognition, under the described theoretical models, are driven by attitudes from thorough assessment and a form of unyielding persuasion never inconsistent from its historical target intentions. Conclusion Bud Light is a major player in the beer market for the brand’s ability to remain positioned with a higher element of interaction with customers, thus driving more brand loyalty. Stable hold on competitive markets when others are losing market share would support this assessment. A generally low involvement product becomes a high involvement product through this effort using lifestyle positioning, which is an advantage to the company as it puts the product into a different segment against competition: more like that of a fashion purchase. In a market dominated by competition where large-scale advertising is avoided due to high competitor presence, remaining true to one’s brand identity is the focal point of sustaining consumer interest and market share. 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