OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- In his conference calls explaining why combining Anheuser-Busch InBev with SABMiller is a smart move, AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito repeatedly underscored the beer brewer's need to gain a global presence.
“This combination will create the world’s first truly global beer company, and one of the world’s largest consumer products companies,” Brito said in announcing the formal bid in November. “This provides more opportunities for consumers globally to taste and enjoy some of the best beers in the world.”
Picking up on that theme, PackBev E-News offers these three ways beverage marketing has become a more global pursuit in the past year.
Bud’s Worldwide Pursuit
Putting its money where its mouth is, AB InBev will wrap up a relaunch in February of its largest property—Budweiser.
The company quietly introduced new packaging in September with a five-month roll-out plan. It was the 13th redesign of the packaging in the brand's 140-year history, according to an Adweek report, but with one major difference: It's the first time Bud has used the same packaging worldwide.
"Our entire brand positioning is all around showing how much we care about the beer, that we're 'Brewed the Hard Way,' " Brian Perkins, vice president of marketing, Budweiser North America, told Adweek. "We looked at the packaging we had and said to ourselves, 'Can we honestly say the level of detail, care and attention on this packaging reflects the level of care, detail and attention that goes into the beer? No.' "
The brand's new look "combines the most memorable parts of Budweiser's legacy—the bow tie, distinct red coloring, the classic script—while also working to reduce clutter that had come to take up real estate on its packaging," the magazine said. "It's meant to feel fresh and contemporary while also harkening back to the brand's past."
Still, the new aesthetic is also a test on the largest scale possible; Budweiser's revamp will go through its seven global hubs: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine.
This Coke’s for the World
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola announced this month the launch of its first global marketing plan, bringing promotion of all drinks under its namesake brand into a single, "one-brand" marketing strategy.
The One Brand strategy, encompassing Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light/Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life, "extends the global equity and iconic appeal of original Coca-Cola across the trademark, uniting the Coca-Cola family under the world’s No. 1 beverage brand," the company said.
“Every day, millions of people around the world reach for an ice cold Coca-Cola,” said the company’s chief marketing officer, Marcos de Quinto. “The new One Brand approach will share the equity of Coca-Cola across all Coca-Cola trademark products, reinforcing our commitment to offer consumers choice with more clarity. This is a powerful investment behind all Coca-Cola products."
The Retailer’s Place in This World
A third example is more general but no less indicative of this globalization trend.
Convenience retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard began this month rebranding all of its c-stores to a modern version of its Circle K brand.
Initially starting with The Pantry’s Kangaroo Express c-stores and its Circle K locations in the Southeast, the Laval, Quebec-based chain will then move westward across the United States and finally into Europe and Canada.
The process will consolidate the company's Circle K, Kangaroo Express, Mac’s and Statoil retail brands under the one refreshed banner worldwide, creating "a global convenience brand under the Circle K name."
All three efforts center on similar goals, and perhaps one best struck by McDonald's: The Golden Arches signify a certain level of food quality and employee courtesy in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and beyond. Extending that, if a customer is used to buying red and white cans of Budweiser at his local Circle K, why wouldn't he look for the same quality and design at a similarly branded c-store in Ireland or Canada?
Companies with wide enough reach are getting the message, and in this world of consolidation and growth, retailers can expect more of the same in the future.
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