Here's Teara Joy's Bud stuff.
Title: Budweiser and ESPN: 'Buds' Through the Years.
Authors: Whitney, Daisy
Source: Television Week; 9/6/2004, Vol. 23 Issue 36, p27-27, 1/2p
Abstract: Focuses on the partnership between Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser branded beer product, and cable television network ESPN. Amount invested by Anheuser-Busch in ESPN for product placement; Benefits of the partnership to the companies; Examples of sponsorship deals of the companies; Increase in advertising spending of Anheuser-Busch with ESPN.
Budweiser and ESPN: 'Buds' Through the Years
Early Advertiser Maintains Strong Relationship With Network
On Sept. 7, 1979, Budweiser sponsored the first televised sporting event on ESPN, a slow-pitch softball game between the Milwaukee Schlitzes and the Kentucky Bourbons.
This summer, Bud Light distributed more than 300 million 16- and 24-ounce beer cans commemorating ESPN's 25th anniversary.
The relationship between ESPN and Anheuser-Busch, which owns Budweiser, has morphed over the years, but the network's first advertiser remains one of its largest today. A-B is one of ESPN's top five advertisers and a top three advertiser on ESPN and ABC Sports together, said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN/ABC Sports customer marketing and sales. In the years when ABC carries the Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch is the largest advertiser, he said.
Anheuser-Busch was the exclusive beer sponsor for the first 15 years of the sports network's life and was instrumental in getting ESPN off the ground, said Dan Donnelly, senior VP and group director at MediaVest, and for eight years previously an Anheuser-Busch executive. "They had really taken a chance with ESPN when it was not known to anyone," he said.
Anheuser-Busch's early position in the sports network lent credibility to ESPN on Madison Avenue, he said.
Win-Win Situation
The relationship served the beer company well, too. Back in 1979, when A-B invested $1 million a year to run two 30-second spots every hour, year-round, on the new network, it had a 25 percent share of the beer market in the United States, said Tony Ponturo, VP of global media and sports marketing at Anheuser-Busch. Now it commands half the market share, he said. "The feeling was we needed to be a major marketer and needed to be where the beer consumer is, and clearly that's sports," he said.
As ESPN grew in prominence, it became cost-prohibitive for Anheuser-Busch to remain the sole beer sponsor, Mr. Ponturo said.
While the two brands are no longer dating exclusively, Mr. Erhardt said ESPN often will bring a new idea to Anheuser-Busch before others. For instance, Mr. Erhardt brought the concept of the "Hot Seat" to Anheuser-Busch. That segment has since become the "Bud Hot Seat," in which "SportsCenter" anchors pepper an athlete with questions. "They immediately recognized it was a good idea and wanted to do it," he said.
In addition, as ESPN is about to take a programming position in a new sport, it will often gauge how Anheuser-Busch feels about the sport. This was done to great effect with both hockey and basketball.
"When we entered into negotiations for the NBA, an important part of the negotiations was what kind of support Anheuser-Busch would put behind the NBA," Mr. Erhardt said. The beer company is now one of the official sponsors of the NBA.
ESPN has fashioned multiyear, multiplatform deals with Anheuser-Busch in excess of $70 million per year that include "Monday Night Football," hockey, ESPN The Magazine, college basketball and ESPN's quarter-bouncers bar game championships.
Mr. Ponturo declined to reveal the current ESPN ad budget, but said it is in eight figures. The ad spending with ESPN remains stable and has probably grown 5 percent to 10 percent over the past five years, he said.
While the relationship has lasted, it's not always perfect. As ESPN has ramped up its own on-air promotions in recent years, Anheuser-Busch has had to ensure that its ads don't run alongside promos where another beer company is mentioned, Mr. Ponturo said.
"We probably still have the mentality that we want to be perceived as their beer. We are still sort of like the oldest son that wants to be perceived as the favorite. Whenever we start to feel that's not the case, we have a nice conversation," he said.
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By Daisy Whitney
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Title: Bud makes its move on Hollywood.
Authors: Linnett, Richard Arndorfer, James B.
Source: Advertising Age; 8/2/2004, Vol. 75 Issue 31, p1-23, 2p
Abstract: Reports on the venture of Anheuser-Busch Co. into the branded entertainment segment in partnership with DTC Entertainment for the Budweiser beer brand as of August 1, 2004. Aggressive campaigns produced by the brand's rivals such as Coors; Business relationship between DTC and Budweiser; Plans of DTC to included Budweiser in film, television and Internet ventures.
DTC is likely to push Budweiser into movie, TV and Internet Web-isode ventures-the strong suit of its sibling Partizan, which reps such high-profile spot and movie directors as Michel Gondry and the directing team Traktor. DTC will be a separate entity "devoted to doing entertainment initiatives for marketers and advertising agencies," Mr. Dickstein said, who declined to comment on Mr. Immesoete and Budweiser.
"We don't intend to be an advertising agency," Mr. Dickstein said of DTC. "We are working with ad people and the Hollywood community ... and though some of these initiatives may end up as straight advertising opportunities, they will be part of larger 360-degree branding ideas."
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Title: Ads muscling into live TV events
Authors: Michael Hiestand
Source: USA Today; 10/28/2004
“Section: Sports, Pg. 11c
Imagine the marketing possibilities if characters in TV commercials could become real people.
That happened Tuesday when the notion of "integrated marketing" -- a corporate mantra -- sprang to life during Fox's World Series coverage. During the Boston Red Sox-St. Louis Cardinals game, Fox's Chris Myers interviewed Leon, the self-absorbed athlete in Budweiser TV ads.
Fox assumed viewers knew the ads and never mentioned Nigel Thatch, the actor being interviewed. Myers played along, paying Leon $8.50 since this stereotype of the modern overpaid, ungrateful athlete doesn't talk for free.
For starters, Fox was servicing the Daddy Warbucks of TV sports. Anheuser-Busch tops the list of the biggest sports advertisers, spending $218 million on national TV sports last year. "A-B is a great corporate partner," Fox Sports President Ed Goren says. "And we pride ourselves in doing our best to take care of our advertisers."
And Fox managed to put Leon in context. During the interview, women seen behind Leon wore T-shirts reading "Slam-a-Lam-a Ding Dong" -- a slogan in the Bud ads. After the interview, Fox announcer Joe Buck told Myers to "say hi for me," which makes sense if you know Buck appears in Leon's beer ads.
But Fox, in a stadium named for A-B's founder, might have plugged more than beer. NBC, says Daily Variety magazine, bought a TV pilot based on Leon, to be written by the ad agency people who created him and be produced by 20th Century Fox, Fox Sports' corporate cousin. Goren says he didn't know about that connection and called the World Series spotlight on Leon a "one-time only" thing.
Don't bet on it. The TV business already loathes those viewers channel surfing away from ads. And the enemy is getting better equipped: By 2008, says the research firm Yankee Group, almost one-third of U.S. households will have digital video recorders, such as TiVo, that will let them easily escape ads.
So the idea is to get plugs into programming, like superimposing ad logos over baseball backstops or relentless sponsor mentions during games.
"Sports TV has been a leader in that," says Robert Thompson of Syracuse's Center for the Study of Popular Television. "This is a step further. It's product placement gone wild, like doing a news interview with the Pillsbury doughboy. Maybe that will happen."
But even breakthrough ideas need proper execution. "It was hideous," says Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of San Francisco-based Pickett Advertising. "I like the character in the ads. But the thing on Fox was embarrassing. Clearly, there's no bounds to tastelessness and what advertisers will do to get plugs. Everything on Fox is hype, hype, hype."
Leagues can set boundaries. The current NFL TV deals cut back on ways networks can plug sponsors during game action. The Leon interview, the NFL's Brian McCarthy says, would be prohibited on NFL games. Other leagues are more permissive so they can squeeze a few more bucks out of networks while fans get stuck with games filled with onscreen pop-up ads.
Leon on Fox represents innovation. Says sports business consultant David Carter: "It works on a lot of levels. As a marketing vehicle, it might be the new rage."
(c) USA TODAY, 2004”
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Title: BUDWEISER SPONSOR OF SOCCER BEAMED TO BARS.
Authors: Wentz, Laurel
Source: Television Week; 9/12/2005, Vol. 24 Issue 37, p14-14, 1/3p, 1c
http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=18365894
“Reports on the designation of Anheuser-Busch as the exclusive sponsor of closed-circuit Hispanic American television broadcasts of the World Cup 2006 qualifying soccer matches through a deal with soccer promotion outfit Traffic Sports. Potential for Anheuser to combine the passion for soccer with Budweiser beer according to C-COM Group president Luis Gonzales; Activities at sports bars covering the soccer games.
C-COM Group, a Miami-based Hispanic public relations firm, spotted the potential for Anheuser-Busch to combine the passion for soccer with Budweiser beer. During the games, Budweiser controls the halftime show, gives away World Cup trinkets, hosts trivia games and has four minutes to air its TV commercials, said Luis Gonzalez, C-COM's president.”
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Title: Ads Take Aim At Cell Phones ,
By: Heun, Christopher T.
InformationWeek, 8750-6874, August 8, 2005, Issue 1051
“Companies are building databases of mobile-phone numbers so they can send text-message ads, but spam looms as a serious threat They fit easily in purses and pockets and go everywhere. That's why cell phones are every marketer's dream: closer than E-mail, more personal than TV commercials.
So it's only natural that pitchmen are dreaming up ways to hawk their wares over the tiny mobile-phone screens. Add a global positioning system, which soon will reach every phone, and companies can target individuals at specific times and places, say, right when they drive by a fast-food restaurant at lunchtime.
But it's nine months to a year before these very-targeted ads start popping up on cell phones. It will take that long for McDonald's Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co. to build databases of a half-million to a million mobile-phone numbers that they'll need, says Nihal Mehta, founder and CEO of Ipsh, a mobile marketer. They'll get them from willing consumers, who type in a five-digit word or number known as a "short code" and send it as Short Message Service messages to advertisers, who respond with sweepstakes offers, free ring tones, or coupons.”
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Title: Bud Fetes Wedding Crashers.
Authors: Wasserman, Todd
Source: Brandweek; 6/27/2005, Vol. 46 Issue 26, p6-6, 1/3p
Bud Fetes Wedding Crashers
Film partnership is brew's first since 1991's Backdraft.
NEW LINE CINEMA has enticed Budweiser to run its first exclusive movie partnership in 14 years, a tie-in with the studio's comedy Wedding Crashers.
The Anheuser-Busch label will support the July 15 release with two TV spots, via Fusion, Chicago, that include clips from the film. The spots feature a woman warning guests to a looming wedding about guys who crash weddings, like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn do in the film.
Other support includes POP, counter cards, table tents, banners and posters, and promotional giveaways including a Wedding Crashers/Budweiser garter, tuxedo shirt, visor and "ball and chain" key ring.
In addition, Budweiser.com will offer fans the chance to "Crash the Trailer" and superimpose their mugs onto Wilson's and Vaughn's in the online film clip.
Lance Still, svp-national promotions at Time Warner's New Line unit, said it wasn't easy to land Bud, which hasn't done a movie tie-in since Backdraft in 1991. "It took a lot of chasing," she said, "but a perfect fit comes along very rarely."
The movie is also rated R to avoid any charges that Bud is marketing to kids under 21 and Still said the commercials will run where the TV audience is primarily over 21.
Other tie-in partners for the comedy include Wyndham Hotels, Guitar Center, Tower Records, Circuit City and Trans World Entertainment.
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Title: Want a Bud? A Coke? Sorry, you'll have to be more specific. Authors: Arndorfer, James B.
MacArthur, Kate Source: Advertising Age; 2/28/2005, Vol. 76 Issue 9, p3-64, 2p, 1c
Want a Bud? A Coke? Sorry, you'll have to be more specific
Overabundance of line extensions threatens to shoo away consumers
Asking the bartender for a Bud just got more complicated.
Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser Select, rolled out nationally Feb. 21, is the sixth brew on the market bearing the Bud name. That doesn't count the new caffeinated B-to-the-E beer, which uses Budweiser iconography.
And that's still nothing compared to the soft-drink aisle, where shoppers can find 14 varieties of Coca-Cola and 11 different Pepsi-Cola labels. Both beverage giants are expected to flood aisles with new diet versions this summer.
It's line extension madness. And while proponents assert the dizzying array of drinks is necessary to generate excitement and appeal to changing tastes-not to mention gain shelf space and fend off competitors-critics contend marketers risk confusing customers. Confronted with too many choices, they might just choose another brand.
“How can you order a Bud with all these different products?” said Jack Trout, president of the consultant Trout & Partners and a critic of line extensions. “Which Bud?”
In his book “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less,” Barry Schwartz, a Swathmore College psychology professor, argued that too many choices-in everything from shopping to selecting a retirement plan-create stress.
Budweiser 6
Coke 14
Pepsi 11
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Title: NBC Deals Again.
Authors: Consoli, John
Source: MediaWeek; 2/14/2005, Vol. 15 Issue 7, p8-9, 2p
Reports on the deal signed by National Broadcasting Corp. with Anheuser-Busch as the title sponsor of a television series titled "National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Presented by Budweiser." Poker players who will be featured on the program; Broadcast schedule of the television program; Provisions of the deal to Anheuser-Busch.
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Title: Anheuser-Busch still king of ads
Authors: Bruce Horovitz
Source: USA Today; 02/07/2005
Even in a year when Anheuser-Busch consciously avoided airing crude Super Bowl commercials, the beer giant bested the field, again, with one of its most potent advertising weapons: a silly sight gag.
For a record seventh year in a row, Anheuser-Busch has won USA TODAY's exclusive Ad Meter consumer ranking of the top Super Bowl ads. In this year's winner, by DDB Chicago, when a skydiver refuses to jump, his buddy tosses out a six-pack of Bud Light. The guy still doesn't jump, but the pilot does.
Once again, Anheuser-Busch made winning look easier than popping the top off a Bud. Besides the top-rated ad for the evening, it also logged three of the top seven and five of the top 12. The beermaker was the game's single-largest advertiser, airing nine spots during the game. "Budweiser always has the perfect commercials," says Elizabeth Prester, 53, a nurse from Ellicott City, Md.
Anheuser-Busch's global brand marketing chief, Bob Lachky, agrees: "It's an awesome feeling and a validation of the Bud Light (ad) strategy."
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Title: Trendy TO tacky TO kitschy
Authors: Craig Wilson
Source: USA Today; 11/30/2004
“MANITOWOC, Wis. hree giant Budweiser bottles are painted on the brewery towers that loom at the end of Washington Street. Some of the locals say they're symbolic of a town that has seen better days: three Buds shy of a six-pack.
This town of 33,000 was known as the Aluminum Cookware Capital of the World, but it's ultimately being remembered for turning out more aluminum Christmas trees than anywhere else.”
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Title: On a Junior high.
Source: Sporting News; 11/8/2004, Vol. 228 Issue 45, p8-8, 2/3p, 2c
“Abstract: The article reports that Dale Earnhardt, is making an appearance at a local mall. There are more than 1,000 people here and almost that many No. 8 hats and Budweiser T-shirts. There is giddiness in the air as onlookers wait for their five seconds with him. One of the first fans to get an autograph is a traveling nurse from Las Vegas who follows Dale around the country. Nearby, two middle-aged women have some exchanges. He waves to the crowd, then is hustled off the stage by security, his relentless fans in hot pursuit.”
“But Dale Jr. is making an appearance at a local mall, so I figure, what the heck — I'll go see what all the fuss is about. I arrive about an hour before Junior is scheduled to appear, and already there is a sea of red around the stage where he'll sign autographs. There are more than 1,000 people here and almost that many No. 8 hats and Budweiser T-shirts.
"My twin brother named his son after Dale Jr.," says the guy standing behind me. I turn around and realize he's talking to me. "I was at Daytona when he won." I smell stale beer on his breath. I have no doubt that it's Budweiser.”
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Title: Student Conservation Scholarships Announced.
Source: Parks & Recreation; Nov2004, Vol. 39 Issue 11, p38-39, 2p, 1c
Anheuser-Busch and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced in September, 15 winners of the annual Budweiser Conservation Scholarship Program. Each winner will receive up to $10,000 to help finance research, tuition, and other related expenses toward their education in developing innovative solutions designed to address real and pressing issues affecting fish, wildlife and plant conservation.
