In A Twist, A-B Advertising Natural Light

Faces competition in economy aisle.

Anheuser-Busch is ratcheting up marketing support for Natural Light -- a brand that traditionally gets little, if any, media support -- as competition heats up in the economy aisle.

According to Brandweek, A-B in April will break TV ads in 30 markets that focus on humorous “Nattyisms.” An ad demonstrating the “Nat-a-pult” shows a guy tossing a beer to a buddy who doesn’t want to lose his spot on the couch.

A-B is running the ads in face of the Natural Light showing slight slippage in grocery stores, according to beer sales statistics from Nielsen. The brand lost 0.1 points of share during the four weeks ended March 8.

Natural Light is doing better in convenience stores, according to beer market analysis by Nielsen. It was up 0.3 points for the four weeks ended February 23. But overall A-B lost 0.8 points of share during the period.

The story notes that Natural Light is seeing increased competition from other brewers -- including Miller Brewing Company -- in the economy section.

The story can be seen here.