Anyone else think they’re “kind of” missing the point, again?- The Professor
Written by David Kesmodel for /online.wsj.com
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV is redesigning the Budweiser can for the first time in a decade, seeking to reinvigorate sales of the storied brew.
The company unveiled a new, bolder look Wednesday that makes the Budweiser “bowtie” symbol the centerpiece of the label and goes much heavier on the color red than previous versions.
The company’s 12th design since it began selling Budweiser in cans in 1936 comes as Anheuser tries to arrest the brand’s protracted decline in the U.S. and expand sales of the brew overseas.
Shipments of Budweiser to wholesalers, a measure of sales volume, fell 7.3% last year in the U.S. after a 9.5% decline a year earlier, according to newsletter Beer Marketer’s Insights.
“Our intent was to find a design that was very powerful and positive for both old and new Budweiser drinkers,” said Rob McCarthy, vice president for Budweiser.
The brewer has been trying to entice U.S. drinkers in their 20s and 30s who have gravitated to other beers to sample Budweiser. It used a special-edition “patriotic” can design over the Fourth of July holiday to woo consumers.
Budweiser is the No. 2-selling beer in the U.S. after the company’s Bud Light, but industry watchers say rival Coors Light likely will overtake Budweiser this year.
The new Budweiser can maintains the Budweiser creed, which dates to the late 1870s and begins, “This is the famous Budweiser beer.”
The company said the new packaging will hit U.S. stores this summer and will roll out in overseas markets later this year.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest beer maker by sales, was formed by the 2008