anheuser-busch inbev
For someone who spent the first decade of his career in the opaque world of PR, Anheuser-Busch’s Nick Kelly quickly developed a reputation for candor after two years on the sponsorship side of the house.
“A lot of the people in this business are full of B.S.; Nick is the opposite,” said Eelco van der Noll, A-B InBev vice president of experiential marketing, an industry veteran of 20-plus years. “His understanding of how to translate sports into business and brand opportunities has made him really valuable.”
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After 2 1/2 years at NASCAR, Kelly came to A-B InBev in 2014, just in time to be embroiled in the NFL/Ray Rice domestic violence scandal. As one of the NFL’s biggest corporate sponsors, A-B was often asked for comment. At the same time, there was controversy about turning Crested Butte, Colo. (population 1,519), into a Bud Light-branded “Whatever, USA” festival. Kelly handled both situations with aplomb.
In early 2015, when A-B InBev was moving U.S. marketing to New York City, Kelly began dealing with some of the industry’s biggest sponsorship deals. Talk about learning on the job: With a new marketing administration in place under Lucas Herscovici, vice president of consumer connections, the brewer renegotiated 70 of its 88 domestic team sponsorships within the first 18 months, and renewed deals with the NBA and NFL.
A highlight of Kelly’s stint at A-B was coalescing the rights and talent necessary to quickly push out a Harry Caray TV ad and long-form web video to celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ World Series victory — a proprietary commemorative moment for A-B. Since the brewer could recut an old ad, it was able to produce and air the commemoration ad in less than a day.
Moving forward, Kelly and the other Bud marketers are working to find the right mix.
“There’s a balance between the biggest, coolest, ‘no one is ever going to do this except us’ activations and some basics,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of [younger] consumers that have never tasted a Bud, so if we can hand out a couple hundred thousand Buds at a big event, that may be more meaningful to us than any ad we could do.”
— Terry Lefton
nick kelly
Anheuser-Busch InBev | Senior Director, Experiential Marketing-Sports
Age: 34
Where born: Tacoma, Wash.
Education: Marshall University (B.A., business)
Family: Wife, Kristen
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at age 20: Patience is paramount.
Profession other than your own you’d most like to attempt: Investment banker; I’d love to do M&As.
Cause supported: Boys & Girls Clubs.
Guilty pleasure: Beer, and reality TV.
Person in the industry you’d most like to meet: Jerry Jones, even though they are a MillerCoors team.
I’m one of the best I know at … : Negotiations.
2017 will be a good year if … : We grow market share.
The sports industry needs to do a better job of … : Communicating.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve ever done is … : Pace car rides at the Daytona 500.
You’d be surprised to know that I … : Was in the movie “We Are Marshall.”
