4 Responses

1. AFett

   February 5th, 2007 at 4:27 pm

   1

   I’m not so sure I agree with you on this one. Nikhil and I were just discussing today how we NOTICED that basically Budweiser was the ONLY beer manufacturer to advertise this year. Further, thinking back you have to give credit to Bud for developing such a wide variety of props/icons that I believe are totally recognizable to the majority of consumers - ie: the Clydesdales, the frogs, the lobster, and the dalmation. On the other hand, if we hear Tastes Great, Less Filling I think most of us think Miller Lite. Perhaps I’m wrong and just paying too much attention, or perhaps you’re just zoning out, we’ll see what others think I suppose.

2. Ravi Wolf

   February 5th, 2007 at 9:56 pm

   2

   I wonder how the beer companies advertise in Luxembourg? Those people drink twice as many liters of pure alcohol as we do. Oh, and if there ever was a “Drink Beer” campaign initiated by the companies, you can be assured that at least some members of congress will try to gain political points by passing a piece of asinine legislation to start a “No Beer” campaign. No way those MADD, SADD, _ADD, etc. people will just sit by and watch. And, of course, nothing is more fun that those rivalry ads (remember who is the king of all beers? commercials).

3. Doug

   February 8th, 2007 at 7:45 am

   3

   I agree with you that funny commercials (beer or otherwise) can make it easier for viewers to forget what product was advertised in the first place. Whenever I tell someone about a funny commercial I had recently seen, I realize half of the time I can’t even tell them what the company was. (Sometimes I find this slightly embarrassing!)

   However, in response to your solution (which I may be misinterpreting, so correct me if I am), I’m not sure the beer companies would see any benefit in collaborating on ads because they are competing not only with foreign beers, but also amongst themselves. True what you said about taking a step backward, but I’m not sure the step forward would make up for it. Would the domestic beer market expand enough to increase each company’s revenues significantly enough to surpass what it would earn by luring customers away from the other companies? Maybe it would; I don’t know that much about the beer business.

   But I’ll go ahead with an idea anyway. If the beer companies want more viewers to remember who made a funny commercial, perhaps a better solution would be to make more commercials that embed the brand within the plot. That is, make it a part of what’s funny. Have actors mention the beer in their lines, for example, and build a joke around it. Or use the beer as a prop in commercials with little or no dialogue. I’m sure plenty of creative ideas can be thought of.

4. surya.yalamanchili

   February 10th, 2007 at 12:07 pm

   4

   OK, OK. Fair points all.

   I guess my point would be that while the ads are entertaining– I don’t believe they make people want to drink their product. If there’s a funny Bud ad on, I really wonder how many people will switch their brand of beer. It’s more likely that from their consumer research they know that their consumers like to be entertained in advertising and so they’re providing it– but not really embedding anything that’s a unique point of difference into their advertising. So they’re really just promoting the category and so I thought why not just do a category campaign.