Answer all questions based on the case.

Management Decision Case - From Clydesdales to Talking Frogs - Budweiser's Strategic Adaptability Keeps It a Winner Questions for Consideration 1. Over the course of its history, Budweiser's marketing responded to major regulatory and cultural changes, such as Prohibition and the changing role of women in society. What other changes are either happening now or are on the horizon to which today's marketing managers at Budweiser should respond? What should that response be? 2. In this account of Budweiser's history, there is evidence of both \"Big M\" and \"little m\" in practice. Which of these two types of marketing do you think is Budweiser's greater strength? Support your answer with examples to demonstrate your understanding of these concepts. 3. What do you think of using Bud Light and Natural Light brands in naming the new hard seltzer products? Does this brand extension dilute the beer brands even if bolstering the new hard seltzers? 4. Budweiser is known for using humor and tug-at your-heartstrings appeals in advertising. Compare the original and new Whassup ads. View the \"One Team\" video. Do you think they are effective? Why or why not? Problem and Issue Identification 1. What are the central facts of the case? What assumptions are you making about these facts? 2. What is the major overriding issue in the case? What major question or issues does this case address that merits study at this point in the course? 3. What sub-issues or related issues are present in the case that merit consideration now? Analysis and Evaluation 1. Who are the stakeholders in the case, and what are their stakes? What challenges, threats, or opportunities are posed by these stakeholders? 2. If the case involves company actions, evaluate what the company did or did not do in handling the issue affecting it. Recommendations 1. What recommendations do you have for this case? If a company's strategies or actions are involved, should the company have acted as it did? What action should the company take now? Why? Be as specific as possible. List several options as well as the pros and cons of each alternative. Be prepared to discuss why you eliminated those options you discarded and defend your chosen alternative. Mention and discuss any important implementation considerations. This last step is crucial because recommendations that cannot be implemented are worthless. MANAGEMENT DECISION CASE From Clydesdales to Talking Frogs: Budweiser's Strategic Adaptability Keeps It a Winner In the rapidly changing world of today's marketing horses pulling a red, white, and gold beer wagon up manager, for a brand to survive and thrive over the New York's Fifth Avenue to the Empire State Build- long run, its marketing strategy must stay ahead of ing. These majestic horses were a very early "brand the curve. It must continually evolve-responding to character," and of course they would go on to appear the changing needs and preferences of customers many times in Budweiser promotions in the coming and taking advantage of the many new tools for con- years. necting with its target markets. Over the course of its After the Great Depression, Budweiser made a 150 years, the Budweiser brand has not only survived major product packaging innovation in the form of but thrived, thanks to strong marketing management beer in cans instead of bottles, which dramatically focused on providing value and effectively communi- boosted product sales. The 1940s brought the cating that value to its customers. 56 now-famous slogan, or tagline, the "King of Beers," In 1864, Adolphus Busch partnered with his father- which is still in use today. In the 1980s, faced with in-law, Eberhard Anheuser, to begin brewing beer in more health-conscious consumers, Budweiser re- St. Louis. Anheuser was a marketing pioneer in those sponded with one of its biggest product innovations: early years, using a strong mix of the most cutting- Bud Light. Although Budweiser grew to be the num- edge promotional tools of the day: print and outdoor ber one American beer brand in 1988, by 2001 the advertising, point-of-sale material in saloons, an in- Bud Light brand line extension overtook its big ventory of giveaway items, and a large cadre of trav- brother for first place in U.S. beer sales. Also in the eling salesmen (yes, they were all men back then)."' 1980s, Budweiser took the bold marketing strategy Fast-forward to 1908. Anticipating Prohibition, Busch step of focusing almost exclusively Isively on sports-watching used newspaper ads to remind readers (and regula- males. So it was only natural that Budweiser would tors) that the beer industry employed 750,000 peo- decide to dominate the premier sporting event-the ple who touched 4 million women and children family Super Bowl, of course! While requiring a huge pro- members, and that 400,000 more people were em- motional expenditure, the annual event gave them ployed on farms that produced crops needed to make instant access to a massive audience of these tar- beer. In a patriotic theme to be revisited in future geted sports-watching males, and it was also a great years, Busch and Anheuser proclaimed to everyone platform for some of the most creative and memora- that beer industry employees "love their homes" and ble advertising in history (search for "Budweiser 'are good, honest citizens, temperate, patriotic, and Frogs commercial" or "Budweiser Whassup commer- true."58 cial" to see a couple of famous classics). Budweiser Despite their best efforts to thwart it, Prohibition was indeed the King of Beers-and the King of arrived in 1920, and the minds behind Budweiser re- Marketers! sponded with a major modification to the product But alas, markets rarely stay static for long and component of the marketing mix: the introduction of consumer tastes and preferences in the alcoholic nonalcoholic beer and soft drinks. When Prohibi beverage category shifted in the 1990s toward wine tion ended in 1933, the knee-jerk marketing approach and cocktails, causing a marked decline in beer sales of most beer brands was to simply announce they and heightening the role of marketing management were back in business with ads in the key newspa- even more for Budweiser. Ultimately, the emerging pers of the day (The New York Times, for example). microbrewery craze set in; in 2008, Anheuser-Busch Budweiser took a bit bolder marketing approach. In was sold to the Belgian company InBev (the new cor- an early example of event marketing, Budweiser cel- porate name is AB Inbev). Although no longer an ebrated the return of legal booze with six Clydesdale "American-owned" beer, Budweiser continues to 20 PART ONE Discover Marketing Managementpush its strong association with Americana through responding to the COVID-19 crisis from health care cutting-edge Super Bowl commercials and the return workers to grocery clerks. It aimed to remind peo- (after a hiatus) of the beloved Clydesdales. Budweiser's ple that America is at its best when people pull 2020 Super Bowl ad related the brand to "Typical together.69 American" people. Defying prejudicial stereotypes What an amazing journey! Over all these years, such as "showing off his strength" where a firefighter Budweiser's longevity and continued success is a pulled a heavy hose in combating a forest fire, or testament to the power of strong, adaptive market- "touching other people's things" when a man helps ing management-always staying fresh in the mar- free a car stuck in snow, the ad showed that Budweiser ket, exhibiting relevance to new and upcoming is a "typical American beer."63 groups of customers, and effectively using the day's And the innovations from Budweiser just keep on most successful promotional tools to communicate coming, including more products focused on females the brand's value and differentiation. and millennials. In 2012, it launched a blend of beer and cocktail called Lime-A-Rita, with additional fla- vors subsequently released.4 In 2019, Budweiser Questions for Consideration introduced Natural Light Seltzer and Bud Light Seltzer 1. Over the course of its history, Budweiser's market- to compete in the $1 billion seltzer market. Natty ing responded to major regulatory and cultural Light became the Official Hard Seltzer of the Big 12 changes, such as Prohibition and the changing Conference, a first in college sports. 66 role of women in society. What other changes are So, you may wonder, how did Anheuser-Busch either happening now or are on the horizon to respond initially to the COVID-19 crisis of 2020? It which today's marketing managers at Budweiser redirected $5 million from its sports budget to the should respond? What should that response be? American Red Cross. A-B worked with sports part- ners to identify stadiums and arenas that could be 2. In this account of Budweiser's history, there is evi- used for temporary blood drive centers. It also dence of both "Big M" and "little m" in practice. created a new version of the iconic Whassup ad as Which of these two types of marketing do you a public service announcement seen on television think is Budweiser's greater strength? Support and social media. The new Whassup featured bas- your answer with examples to demonstrate your ketball stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosch in a understanding of these concepts. video chat and are joined by Wade's wife actress 3. What do you think of using Bud Light and Natural Gabrielle Union, WNBA legend Candace Parker, Light brands in naming the new hard seltzer prod- and DJ D-Nice, all sticking out their tongues and ucts? Does this brand extension dilute the beer asking "whassup?" The spot ended on a serious brands even if bolstering the new hard seltzers? note with Wade asking if everyone is truly doing 4. Budweiser is known for using humor and tug-at- okay. A message appeared on the screen directing your-heartstrings appeals in advertising. Compare viewers to contact the Salvation Army if they are the original and new Whassup ads. View the "One feeling lonely during the time of isolation. Another Team" video. Do you think they are effective? Why spot called "One Team" championed everyday people or why not? NOTES 1. @Wendy's. Twitter, 2017, https://twitter.com/Wendys?ref_src= 6. Mitchell J. Lovett and Jason B. MacDonald, "How Does Finan- twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor. cial Performance Affect Marketing? Studying the Marketing 2. Jayson DeMers, "What Your Business Should Know before Finance Relationship from a Dynamic Perspective," Journal Imitating Wendy's Twitter Feed," Forbes, January 17, 2017, of the Academy of Marketing Science 33, no. 4 (2005), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2017/01/17/is pp. 476-85; and Ramesh K. S. Rao and Neeraj Bharadwaj, wendys-winning-or-losing-with-its-twitter-roasting-streak/ "Marketing Initiatives, Expected Cash Flows, and Shareholders' #2129cb6a1944. Wealth," Journal of Marketing 72, no. 1 (2008), pp. 16-26. 3. Pola B. Gupta, Paula M. Saunders, and Jeremy Smith, "Tradi- 7. Peter F. Drucker, The Practice of Management (New York, NY: tional Master of Business Administration (MBA) versus the HarperCollins Publishers, 1954), pp. 37-38. MBA with Specialization: A Disconnection between What 8. Peter F. Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Prac- Business Schools Offer and What Employers Seek," Journal tices (New York: Harper and Row, 1973), p. 63 of Education for Business 82, no. 8 (2007), pp. 307-12. 9. Shaun Powell, "The Management and Consumption of Organ- 4. David W. Stewart, "How Marketing Contributes to the Bottom isational Creativity," Journal of Consumer Marketing 25, no. 3 Line," Journal of Advertising Research 48, no. 1 (2008), p. 94. (2008), pp. 158-66. 5. Malcolm A. McNiven, "Plan for More Productive Advertising," 10. Rosa Chun and Gary Davies, "The Influence of Corporate Harvard Business Review 58, no. 2 (1980), p. 130. Character on Customers and Employees: Exploring Similarities Marketing in Today's Business Milieu CHAPTER 1 21