Budweiser Company Report

Anheuser-Busch Inc. is a strong and dominating company that is a leader in the beer market. They are a company that is rooted in values, ethics and sheer determination. Now lead by August A. Busch IV, CEO and president, Anheuser-Busch is continuing their reputation as one of the best in the business. What started out as a small brewery acquired by a German immigrant is now the company known as Anheuser-Busch which produces the two best-selling beers in the world. Adolphus Busch left Germany and arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1857. Three years later, Eberhard Anheuser had a Bavarian Brewery and renamed it E. Anheuser & Co. One year after that, Adolphus Busch married Eberhard Anheuser's daughter, Lilly. Busch then started working at his father-in-law's brewery in 1864. Almost exactly 100 years later in 1967, the St. Louis brewery was declared a National Historic Landmark. Like most immigrants, Adolphus came to America in search of a better life. Little did he know that his friendship with Eberhard Anheuser and their tag team effort with the small brewery in St. Louis would turn into a Fortune 500 company.

Executive Summary

Anheuser-Busch targets consumers who are interested in alcoholic beverages that provide the best taste and quality. Their targets are anyone from the lower class of society, all the way up to the upper class. They have a wide range of brands and beverages to offer that are appealing to each social class. They have mastered the art of branding so that at least one type of beer is the ultimate and premier beer for that individual consumer. Anheuser-Busch is a distinguished company that offers sexy and innovative products that have a strong image. Anheuser-Busch has developed and designed their products for consumers who are concerned or aware of their presentation. Even in the commercials, it always seems like there's a guy holding a beer with a bunch of girls around him, or it's a girl holding cocktail with a bunch of guys around her. Regardless of the situation, Anheuser-Busch's alcoholic beverages offer a sense of being Ð''cool.'

As earlier mentioned, Anheuser-Busch Inc. is headed by August A. Busch IV. They are also lead by Patrick T. Stokes. Stokes is the Chairman and CEO of Anheuser-Busch Inc., as well as Chairman of Anheuser-Busch International. Vice President and CFO of Anheuser-Busch Inc., W. Randolph Baker assists both Busch IV and Stokes in leading America's strongest beer and brewery company. August A. Busch IV is obviously the fourth generation of Busch to be the leader of Anheuser-Busch which was started by Adolphus Busch in 1880 when Eberhard Anheuser past away. Anheuser Busch is a company that started out as a small brewery in St. Louis and now leads the United States with a market share of around 50 percent and it doesn't stop there. Anheuser-Busch also owns about 50 percent of Mexico's best brewer, Grupo Modelo, the company responsible for brewing the world famous Corona brand. Anheuser-Busch is looking towards expanding their market share and with over $15 billion in sales in the year of 2005, as well as a 17.9% growth in one year of net income.

Current Marketing Situation

From a company that was founded over a hundred and fifty years ago, Anheuser-Busch has grown into a major supplier of not only beer and malt liquors, but now non-alcoholic beers, organic beers and even energy drinks. Anheuser-Busch is the parent company of Budweiser, Michelob, Busch, Natural, Rolling Rock and Tequiza. They also have spider webbed themselves in the beverage market with specialty beers such as Bud Extra, Bare Knuckle Stout and Anheuser World Lager and import beers such as Grolsch, Harbin Lager and Tiger Beer. Anheuser-Busch didn't stop there. They were able to identify the untouched market opportunities in Non-Alcoholic beers, Specialty Malt Liquors, Organic beers all the way down to Energy Drinks. With the modern day competition, Anheuser-Busch was and is continuously looking for the chance to take advantage of opportunities to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack.

Recently, Anheuser-Busch seems to have found one of these opportunities to set itself apart from competition. They have started a new packaging system for their most prestige beers. For Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob they are trying a new bottle which is totally different than the traditional glass bottles that almost every brand of beer comes in. They have chose to start using aluminum bottles that are boldly appealing, sleek, and plain out sexier than the previous bottles. These aluminum bottles stand taller with enormous logos that span across the whole bottle. They also hold 16 ounces instead of the original 12 ounces. Finally, with this change of packaging they made these newer bottles available in packs of four, which is a mild change from the traditional six-pack. The figures on the next page are the two different packaging types. When the two types of packaging are placed side by side for analyzing, there's no doubt which is more appealing to the consumer. The newer bottles made of aluminum support an image of sophistication, superiority and professionalism. "Householders under age 35 spend 26-39% more than the average household on beer, making them the best customers of this product" (Who's Buying Alcoholic, 42). These newer bottles are targeted towards consumers between the ages of 21 and 27, although they are appealing to all age groups. Anheuser-Busch has definitely started a new path in packaging their products and it's interesting to see what their competitors are doing in return. Within the next couple of months I am expecting to see an attempt by the different beer companies such as Heineken, Molson Coors and Miller to try something similar to add to their current market share.

Market Description

Anheuser-Busch's main market is the beverage market. From there you can break it down even further into alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. In regards to the alcoholic beverage market, Anheuser-Busch has developed a niche in brewing, marketing, selling and innovating. They are on a somewhat new quest in the non-alcoholic beverage market. As mentioned earlier, they are expanding with non-alcoholic beers and energy drinks. A couple of their secondary markets would be considered agriculture and food, but undoubtedly their focus is in the beverage market. They are interested in consumers who do and don't drink alcohol, but mainly in consumers who looking for a boost in their appearance or state of mind. It's often to find yourself thinking that you are Ð''cooler' holding a beer or cocktail in your hand.