Marcel Marcondes, chief marketing officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bud Light’s parent, company made a presentation at The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a global gathering for people working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. .It is considered the largest gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry, and companies are awarded Lions (think the Academy Award Oscars statues). .Anheuser-Busch InBev is the only company Cannes Lions has named Creative Marketer of the Year two years in a row and Marcondes presentation initially focused on how the company has used creativity to help drive business growth..Marcondes explained how AB InBev has shifted from a company that acquires brands to one that grows them before a full theatre at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Monday, according to AdWeek..He featured clips creative campaigns for Corona, Brahma and Budweiser’s sponsorship of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar..“If we just do creativity for the sake of creativity, we’re in the wrong business,” said Marcondes, but couldn’t avoid the ‘Dylan Mulvaney in the room’ and overall backlash to the woke culture..“It’s tough to see all the controversial and divisive debates happening in the US the last couple of weeks involving lots of brands and companies, including, especially, Bud Light,” he said, stressing brands in these situations should remain open to learning and do a better job of what they claim to do on a daily basis. .“Companies and brands must be driven by their values. We are a beer company. Beer is for everyone,” he added. “That’s what we’re doing, being very humble, and really reminding ourselves of what we should do best every day, which is to really understand our consumers.”. “When things get divisive and controversial so easily, I think it’s an important wake-up call to all of us marketers to be very humble,” he said. .Marcondes said Bud Light would cross the country to reconnect with consumers, “It’s coming back,” he said, according to AdWeek. .Prior to his presentation, AB InBev released a statement announcing plans to introduce new marketing for Bud Light..“Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand, that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” reads the statement..Brodigan from Louder with Crowder, never known to be someone who holds back, held forth with his interpretation of Marcondes’ presentation..“The controversial and divisive debates happening in America have been tough for AB InBev, because ‘what they do’ is ‘bring people together,’” says Brodigan. “And in a way, they have. They have brought people together in no longer drinking Bud Light.”.Brodigan summaries how Bud Light’s problems began..“This all started when an elitist marketing executive with an eight million dollars Upper West Side Home, who hates the fanbase of the product she was marketing to, went to a San Francisco influencer marketing firm, who also hates the fanbase, to change who enjoys their product,” he says. .“At no point in this journey was there anyone involved who drinks Bud Light. A free twelve-pack after rebate says no one involved knows anyone who drinks Bud Light either.”.AdWeek points out however, “Despite the controversy, AB InBev remains the planet’s largest brewer. The Belgium-based company oversees more than 500 brands. At last year’s Cannes Lions, 10 AB InBev brands in seven countries brought home a total of 49 Lions.”.“During a May earnings call, AB InBev’s chief executive Michel Doukeris noted the drop in Bud Light sales throughout the first three weeks of April represented only 1% of the beer giant’s total sales volume.”.“’With this perspective, and in the context of our global business, we believe we have the experience, the resources and the partners to manage this,’” AdWeek quoted Doukeris as saying, “adding the company’s annual growth forecast remained unchanged.”.In 2022, AB InBev reported US$57.8 billion in revenue, up 6% compared with 2021.
