Anheuser Busch Strategy

Executive Summary

From our research, Anheuser-Busch is content with being the number one beer company in the world, increasing sales each year in operation. We found that Anheuser-Busch met many views associated with the world, business, and behavioral dimensions. The company also displayed its stability as we reviewed one of its most successful products Budweiser, owned by Anheuser-Busch, under the marketing view and the financial view. Not only do they hold almost half of the market share in the industry but their stock prices, sales volume, and net sales have all increased from 2002 to 2003. We also looked at Budweiser in terms of geography and culture. We found due to the fact that the "western" countries consume the majority of beer, it only makes sense that Anheuser-Busch concentrates on that market. Along these lines, another key goal that is also important to Anheuser-Busch is to boost other beer markets that are located in other cultures, where at the time beer is not a major consumption.

Input-Processing-Output Model for Budweiser

Mission Statement of Budweiser

Budweiser's mission is to be the number one beer company in the world by enriching and entertaining an increasing global audience. To deliver a substantial amount of 15% return to our shareholders, we will add to life's enjoyment through our products, services, and relationships. In addition our goal is to increase sales by 25% each

year.

Organizational Dimensions of Budweiser

World Dimension

Geographical View: Anheuser-Busch is a global enterprise with distribution centers in the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Spain.

Civilization View: Due to Anheuser-Busch's global distribution, the company itself cannot represent only one single civilization. If fact, the company is made up of many different civilizations, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Spain. One of the main reasons that these particular countries have a distribution center may be due to their culture. The people there view beer as a favorable product that everyone should be able to enjoy, and one of the reasons the product is popular may be because of that belief. This provides an enormous market for the beer industry.

Behavioral Dimension

Culture View: Since Anheuser-Busch is a global enterprise, there are many different cultures represented in their workforce. By embracing a well-diversified workforce, Anheuser-Busch promotes a well-rounded organization. Employees are more likely to have self-motivated goals that are inline with the company's goals of the company, and without satisfied employees the company would not maximize its profits. "We actively support numerous community programs sponsored by a wide variety of ethnic groups; we encourage the development of minority- and women-owned companies by purchasing $250 million in annual goods and services from those companies; and one of our 10 core values is building a high-performing, diverse workforce" (Diversity at Anheuser-Busch, pg. 1).

System View: At Anheuser-Busch, the process of making beer is one that is and has been followed very closely. In order to produce one of the world's top beverages, all the task associated with the process must be done in "an efficient, reliable, and predictable manner" (Rienzo, pg. 64). Technology plays a major role, as the beer must go through many stages from the milling to the fermentation and aging of the beer. Mash tanks, brew kettles, fermentation tanks, and lager cells are some of the machinery and equipment needed to produce a consistent beer time and time again. Not to mention the refrigeration process needed to keep the finished product fresh. But machinery is not the only tool being used to make sure Budweiser's beer is consistent. A brew master follows the beer through every process, tasting it for consistency. This person must ensure that the final product is fresh, tasty, and drinkable for future customers.

Business Dimension

Product View: Anheuser Busch is most commonly known for the different types of beer that they produce. Most people are not aware of the other things that exist within the corporation. Along with its theme parks, Anheuser Busch owns its locomotive, packaging, recycling, and media companies. Anheuser Busch also sells other products related to their beer, such as clothing and other accessories.

Service View: At first glance, Anheuser-Busch's service view is to provide its customers with quality beer. However, Anheuser-Busch is a corporation that provides a broad range of services within different aspects of the corporation. These special groups need to come together to create the final product. The different companies and services within the corporation include: Anheuser-Busch, Inc, the company's brewing subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch International Inc., the company's international beer subsidiary, Busch Agricultural Resources Inc. which provides high quality brewing raw materials and services to Anheuser-Busch's brewing operations, and Busch Media Group, Inc, who performs all media planning and buying for Anheuser-Busch's advertising. A great deal of effort and coordination within these groups is the way that a quality Anheuser-Busch product such as Budweiser can be found at any grocery or convenience store at a cheap price with attractive packaging.

Marketing view and the Financial view of Budweiser

Anheuser Busch is an extremely large corporation that operates internationally. Budweiser is a product of Anheuser Busch and is currently the number one selling beer in the world. Anheuser Busch's marketing strategy makes this possible.

Anheuser Busch typically advertises their products during sports events. The sport audience is a large audience that typically consists of people that have the same general attitude toward the sport they are watching. Similar target markets exist for Anheuser Busch because of this reason. Budweiser is advertised excessively throughout the football season. This means that their target market during football season are typically loud and obnoxious men that range from the ages of 18-49 are overweight and have a crude sense of humor. This is great because a large part of the United States population seems to fit this profile.

Anheuser Busch currently holds 49.2% of the market