Anheuser Busch Marketing Case Analysis

The author chooses t0 write the report about Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light because it is the best-selling beer in the world. In this report the author has outlined in detail the current status by using the SWOT and PESTLE analysis of the company Anheuser-Busch

What this means is that their “facilities are organized around a product […]; they have long, continuous process” (Heizer, Render and Munson, p.284). The process is in continuous motion. Anheuser-Busch has a demand and a need to be continuous because they require high volume; “Budweiser and Bud Light, the company’s beers lead numerous beer segments and combined hold 46.4 percent share of the U.S. beer market” (About, n.d.). That is almost half of the entire beer industry is dependent on them. Anheuser-Busch have low variety- although this company has what can be seemingly a variety of products, there are very minimal changes other than slight changes to the recipe that differentiate each family of beers (National Geographic, 4:25, 2011). Meaning that the process is the same the ingredients are what differ. According to the text, “That is to be expected as the attributes change” (Showghi, slide 4,2016). It is still the same product in the end. Because they are producing only beer, they have high fixed costs and low variable cost, they are not making any drastic changes to their product keeping the input the same. Less skilled labor is not part of the equation in this instance; breweries are looking for people with high skills in

“The beer industry in the United States generates $75 Billion in annual sales.” (Abelli, 4)

     In this paper I will be talking about the U.S. beer industry and in short an overview of the brewing industry worldwide. I will talk about the barriers to entry, economies of scale, government intervention, pricing, current market trends, product differentiation, and imports. The focus being mainly on the U.S. brewing industry oligopoly. The U.S. brewing industry has three major players: Anheuser-Busch, SAB Miller, and Coors/Molson. Anheuser-Busch is currently the largest brewer in the world, producing over 100 million barrels a year. Anheuser-Busch currently owns over 50% of the market in the United States, with Miller trailing behind at 20% and Coors at about 11% with the rest of the market occupied by imports and craft breweries. When analyzing any industry, how easy it is for newcomers to enter the market is a great importance. If there are high barriers to entry

Boston Beer Company (BBC) has enjoyed much success with their craft beers with Samuel Adams as their main focus. Being the leader of this segment, overtopping five of their competitors combined (Exhibit 1), the company now must decide how to take advantage of the light beer market. Boston Lightship, their current light beer, had been a small contributor in BBC’s product line. Currently, it is facing dwindling sales with product volumes down from 12 000 cases per month to 3000 cases per month.

The next project was bottling Gordon Biersch signature beer and retailing it. This had three biggest challenges: this project was entirely Gordon’s baby and demanded time and attention; secondly the freshness of the bottled beer versus the freshly brewed was an issue for which they decided the beer would have a shelf life no longer than three months. Thirdly and the most exciting challenge was the head-to-head competition with other microbreweries and premium beers. Despite the tough competitive environment, Gordon Biersch aimed to achieve 11% of the market in three years (by 1996). This retail venture required huge investment, thus they decided to start small to prove to the investors that they could pull it off.

Being a part of a franchise that gathers data will prove to be a learning experience and also provide the opportunity to work first hand in a professional environment while also adding the satisfaction of exploring career and job connections that are available in the marketing field. This experience will affirm learning skills

Larry Brownlow, a young entrepreneur, wanted to operate his own business after completing graduate school. He agreed to a distributorship opportunity with Coors. The brewery company was looking at expanding their market potential of a Coors beer distributorship to a two-county area in southern Delaware. Brownlow used his resources to find and contact Manson and Associates, a research company,

The Boston Beer Company, Inc., founded in 1984, is a leading brewer in United States, offering wide variety of high quality full-flavored, handcraftedbeers. It is distinctive due to the time-honored recipe of brewing and authentic, consistent quality of alcoholic beverages. Samuel Adams Boston Lager is the pride of BBC, regular handcrafted beer “stands for quality, inner self-worth, authenticity, and unique New England or Yankee toughness” ( Martin Roper, Chief Operating Officer). Unfortunately, the company experienced the failure of conquering light beer segment

New Belgium brewery has increasingly grew throughout the years since their development in 1991. Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” (Budweiser, Miller, and Coors), NBB needs to be aggressive and strive to invest in the attractive beer industry in able to grow more. If positioned correctly, NBB and its main brand, Fat Tire, can continually grow. An evaluation of the industry, the business itself, its brands, and the customers and competitors is needed in order to be continuously successful.

Unfortunately, this case study highlighted a point in time where Coors was not performing well. The first visible sign of their struggles was in Quiz 4, which highlighted Coors income per barrel drastic deterioration from 1977 to 1985. The charts and graphs included at the back of the case study gave a graphic representation of the relatively low market share Coors held in 1977 and how this decreased in coming years compared to companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Stoh, and Heileman. Market share is an important value driver when increasing a firm’s performance based on a comprehensive value metrics framework, and with Coors industry market share being low this provides a problem.

Within the craft beer market, consumers have many products to chose. A product is anything offered within a market that which fulfills a want or need (Armstrong & Kotler, 2015). In 2012, over 1,750 breweries operated in the United States (U.S.), with over 1,920 the following year (Brewers,

Anheuser Bush breweries are one of the most beloved iconic brands in the United States. The company was founded in 1852 and has a deep heritage in American culture (Anheuser Busch, 2012). Furthermore the company has built a market share comprised of nearly half of the entire U.S. market (48.9%). The company's success has also put it in a position in which it can be incredibly generous to various communities and causes. In Saint Louis, Missouri, where the company headquarters are located, Anheuser Busch has a long history of charitable activities within the local community.

As the world’s largest brewer, AB Inbev has the ability to compete in new and foreign markets as a strong threat. Due to their enormous capital and expansion-based strategy, they can enter any market as a challenger and shutdown competition to become the leading brewer in this market. As an aggregated note we can also see this in domestic or already dominated markets because due to economics of scale they can achieve differentiated products at a low cost.

Unique Data Collection and Analysis Company is a business organization that provides its customers with unique methods and post-modern technologies of data collection and analysis since its inception in 2014. The company was founded in Chicago by Jack and Mary and currently has 20 employees. The company conducts market surveys on various products and services on behalf of its customers using web analytics and later combines it with operational systems data for accuracy in response to the market trends in the entire city and environs. The uniqueness, authenticity and easy-to-understand information drawn from numerous data sets and sources have continuously helped the customers to make informed managerial decisions and plans that have