More Bud/Bud Light Extensions on Tap?

A-B “trying to reset the portfolio.”

Back in January, Anheuser-Busch told Brandweek that it planned to tone down its new product push and focus on its core brands.

From Brandweek:

"We've got the resources to make anything, but sometimes we've done that without a purpose," said Bob Lachky, evp-global industry and development and chief creative officer at A-B, St. Louis. "We've become smarter marketers."

Since then, of course, A-B has announced plans to introduce Bud Light Lime -- its biggest new product launch since Bud Select. And Budweiser American Ale is on tap for the fall.

Lachky’s comments and the new introductions aren’t mutually exclusive. But recent comments from top A-B marketer Dave Peacock suggest that A-B might be open to introducing more line extensions of Bud and Bud Light in the future.

Peacock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it has redefined its core brands. Under that rethinking, Budweiser is no longer a single brand family. Instead Budweiser and Bud Light are each considered “mega brands”:

From the article:

That partly explains A-B’s willingness to create new beers associated with the image of either Budweiser or Bud Light. Budweiser gets its American Ale cousin, which will try to trade on the image of quality and craftsmanship cultivated by craft beers. Bud Light, meanwhile, gets Bud Light Lime, geared towards the image of refreshment, sociability and summer fun enjoyed by Bud Light and imports such as Corona.

“We’re kind of trying to reset the portfolio,” said Peacock. A-B needs to have “the ability to leverage off the core brand nameplate and also…be willing to trim what you need to trim.”

In the case of Bud American Ale, A-B appears to hope that rolling out a craft style version can help the long-declining brew. Marlene Coulis, A-B’s vice president of consumer strategy and innovation, told Advertising Age the new brand was inspired by A-B’s activities with Michelob:

But Ms. Coulis said A-B's Michelob brand family, which has been spinning off new craft styles for more than a decade, was the real model for the new brew, which is designed to help the King of Beers ride a trend of consumer preferences favoring imports and crafts over macrobrews. "Michelob was a perfect model for this," she said. "Obviously seeing the growth that's occurred in craft and micros, it's a perfect opportunity for us."

The challenge for A-B – as noted by Ad Age – is maintaining focus on its big brands as it rolls out new products and integrates licensed import and craft brands. And focus is crucial, given analysts are looking for improvements after core brand sales to retailers slipped by 0.3 percent.

From Ad Age:

But the new brands also give A-B more to juggle at a time when it's been telling Wall Street that it's focused on its core Bud and Michelob brands above all else, following the difficult task of incorporating a bevy of import and specialty brews into its portfolio last year.

The Ad Age article can be seen here.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch article can be seen here.