076: Waving the Flag for Your Brand – When it Works, When it Doesn't [Budweiser Case Study]

In time for the Fourth of July, the Olympics and the critical U.S. Presidential election, Anheuser-Busch has changed Budweiser to 'America' through November 2016. Budweiser ads have run the gamut from the Clydesdales to puppies to Millennials, and even a sexist ad that required an apology. The King of Beers is attempting to be all things to all people, but one thing is for sure, it's rebrand to America is all about waving the flag.   (And, a shout out to Mark Schaefer of Businesses Grow blog. Mark summarizes well what John Gregory Olson and Jayme Soulati frequently talk about on The Heart of Marketing podcast. We're thinking he probably gets a ton of his ideas from us! LOL) The Trending of Branding Should all brands wave the pink and the red, white and blue? There are pros and cons. Budweiser and Starbucks, for example, are saturated brands. Consumers are fully aware of these global brands, so what can a brand do in the marketing sense? Budweiser has been consistently patriotic. It has a history of using the flag and Statue of Liberty on its packaging. When a brand owns packaging real estate, it has opportunity to get creative. A company needs to understand its mission and also not to forget employee sentiment about events and campaigns. If a company's employees are a melting pot, then extreme branding toward an issue may not work. Getting buy in from all stakeholders is wise when it comes to branding for a cause or national event.