Anheuser-Busch Company

7 Pages 1689 Words

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. continually seeks opportunities to maximize shareholder value and increase efficiency. Through their extremely effective marketing strategies Anheuser-Busch has gained control of over 47% of the global market share. In the process of doing this, Anheuser-Busch has become one of the most recognizable trademarks. This is not without faults though. Anheuser-Busch’s aggressive advertising campaign has targeted more than who they bargained for. Through Anheuser-Busch’s catchy advertisements, they have attracted customers other than the 21+ age group, and recreational drinkers. The company has made significant marketing investments to build Budweiser brand recognition outside the United States and operates overseas breweries in China and the United Kingdom. The company also has a significant influence on Mexico’s largest brewer and producer of the Corona brand. With an estimated 47.5% of the total market share for 1999, Anheuser-Busch continues to widen the gap separating them from their nearest competitors. Budweiser and Bud Light are the No.1 and No. 2 best-selling beers in the world. Miller, their closest rival maintains 22.1% of the market share. In 1999, they achieved record sales and earnings, selling over 100 million barrels of beer worldwide for the first time in history. August A. Busch III, Chairman of the Board and President, says his company owes its success to, “The combination of outstanding domestic beer industry fundamentals, the highest quality and freshest beer in the industry and exceptional marketing and sales execution.” According to Fortune Magazine, the company applies venerable marketing techniques more vigorously and imaginatively than the competition. The company’s most important technique is target marketing. Anheuser-Busch sponsors’ events and runs advertising specifically aimed at all sorts of consumers: blacks, whites, blue-collar workers, computer-buffs, and sports fa...