Taking the stage to The Beatles’ “Revolution” while staffers handed out ice-cold bottles of Bud Light, A-B InBev VP/Consumer Connections Lucas Herscovici had a message to a full ballroom Wednesday afternoon in N.Y.: “We are not walking away from sports at all. That is not our intent at all. We need to do sports differently.” During the next 30 minutes, Herscovici told the crowd at the '15 Momentum Sports Marketing Symposium the story of his background, and outlined changes in sponsorship strategy at the company and what sports properties should expect from the brand. He kept coming back to themes of innovation, evolution and revolution, even aligning those with his personal story. “I have lived in six different places in the last five years, so that is a lot of change,” he said, with a laugh. “I have change in my DNA. And I like driving change. And we are driving change at Anheuser-Busch, all under a theme of revolution and change.” After outlining the brand’s guiding principals, he said, “Ultimately, we care about liquid on lips. We need to have partners to help us sell more beer. ... We are willing to walk away, but we are committed to working with the partners that get it and help us sell more beer.”
INSIDE THE NFL DEAL: Herscovici said the
brand’s renewal with the NFL is an example of “how committed we are to sports." He said, "We have renewed, but it’s a dramatically new deal.” Herscovici touched on some new deal points, saying a "big change is now we have the ability to activate our teams outside the city limits.” He said, “The fact is that we have 28 of the 32 teams, as well as the league deal, and now we can activate across the nation and have the scale we need.” Herscovici noted the introduction of team-branded cans in-market this year led to an increase in beer sales, “so our wholesalers are extremely excited about the ability to expand that.” In addition, A-B now becomes the presenting sponsor of “Thursday Night Football.” “Thursday is when the weekend starts for millennials,” he said, while touting the brand’s ability to activate at retail and on premise, and to “own this property in an entirely different way through content.” He also noted the acquisition of footage rights in digital and for more “authentic imagery at retail.” He said the new global nature of the deal allows for activation in markets like the UK, Brazil and China, and in “markets where the sport is growing rapidly.”
GOING BIG: Herscovici also gave examples of where the brand has increased its investment. “We are going big on the things that are relevant to consumers,” he said. He specifically pointed to the DC market, where A-B was an exclusive partner with the Redskins but not with the region’s other pro teams. “But we made a big bet and we will now have all four teams in that city,” he said. “We decided to partner with them and go big. This market is an example where we go fewer, bigger and bolder.”
CHANGES AT A-B: Herscovici told attendees that in the last 4-6 months, his group has created a new sports and experiential team to replace what was previously a sports and entertainment team. He touted some of the new talent that has joined the brand from ESPN, NASCAR, MasterCard, Wasserman, Stats and Momentum. In addition, he talked about the company’s new relationship with WME-IMG, after that group won an agency shoot-out at the end of last year. “We did a big pitch,” he said. “We brought all the big agencies out.” He said WME-IMG is helping on consultancy, creative and activation, while “bringing external thinking to this new world.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Herscovici closed by telling attendees what to expect from the brand. “We are very data driven,” he said. “We are very analytical and we will make decisions based on data. Smart data, things that are aligned with our strategy.” He outlined a 70/20/10 approach for the brand, with 70% of efforts focused on the brand’s core business, 20% focused on innovation and 10% focused on ideas shaping the future. He wants his agencies, properties and partners to push the brand’s thinking. “I want to feel uncomfortable,” he said. Another theme he stressed: “If it ain’t broke, break it.” He elaborated: “If we’re not breaking things, we are not trying hard enough.” His final message: “We are willing to walk. We want to sweat the assets. We want to define the next.”
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: During a Q&A after his formal presentation, Herscovici expressed an interest in e-sports. “We will get into sports that we believe are relevant to our core consumer,” he said. “E-sports is an area that is very interesting in terms of the trends we are seeing. ... The numbers are staggering and it’s reality.” Asked about a strategy to target millennials, he admitted he did not have a magic bullet, but said, “Some of the things they see, they believe, are bullshit. Our signage is wallpaper for them today. We need to understand them.” He pointed to A-B activations on Snapchat and Tinder: “Those are platforms where millennials are spending a lot of their time. It’s important being where they are and understanding them.” In terms of property and partner reaction to the brewer’s new philosophy, he said the brand held an NFL Summit in July where it brought in all 28 team partners for the first time. “We shared with our teams what our strategy is, and we challenged them for ideas,” he said. “It’s been unbelievable the ideas we got from our partners. They are really embracing this. They are excited. We are really surprised. We thought there would be more resistance. They get where we are going. They get the type of assets we need. It’s a crowd-sourcing approach and it’s a partnership. We are extremely happy with our initial response from our partners.”
