Lager heads
From Jeremiah McWilliams' blog on the beer industry.
STLtoday.com/lagerheads
Anheuser-Busch president is
Advertising Age's
No. 7 "power player"
If we know Dave Peacock, he'll probably shrug off this recognition. But we found it fascinating that Peacock was high on the list — No. 7 — of Advertising Age's list of "Power Players." AdAge points out that the U.S. is the global beer industry's biggest source of profits, and Peacock leads the entity that dominates it with a market share of nearly 50 percent.
Even though A-B is only a division of Anheuser-Busch InBev, "the company's new corporate overlords have thus far largely deferred to the brand-marketing prowess of Mr. Peacock's team in St. Louis," AdAge writes. Besides pushing huge brands such as Bud Light and Natural Light, Anheuser-Busch has "mastered the more subtle sales tactics" required to move upscale beers like Stella Artois and Hoegaarden, the publication said this week.
Let's go to the numbers. A-B has a U.S. ad budget of nearly $1.6 billion and seven of the 13 largest U.S. beer brands by volume. During the first half of this year, measured media spending was up 3.2 percent.
Still, the MillerCoors joint venture — which holds 30 percent of the domestic beer market — is now "one of the most significant creative threats A-B has faced in the U.S."
