Anheuser-Busch has entered a "triage mode" that will
see sponsorship and general-marketing resources "funneled
next year to Budweiser," including a "major global campaign
tied to its sponsorship of the World Cup," according to
Gerry Khermouch of BRANDWEEK. After already moving its
Busch NASCAR sponsorship to its Budweiser brand and
"stepping up" Bud's MLB and bowling profile, Khermouch
reports that A-B "next will shift the emphasis of its" NHL
sponsorship from Bud Ice to Budweiser. Sources say signage
will be the first change in individual arenas, while a
"full" crossover could occur sometime around the Nagano
Winter Games in February, when A-B is planning a promo
involving the NHLPA. Khermouch adds that the company's
World Cup-themed ads, developed by DDB Needham, Chicago, and
executed by London design shops The Mill and The Frame
Store, "look to dial up the presence of the brand's red
'bowtie' logo as an internationally recognizable icon." In
one spot, the logo comes to life and plays goalie, while in
another, the World Cup trophy "waddles" over to a Bud bottle
and bear-hugs it before popping it open. The ads will run
in "all of Bud's overseas markets as well as the U.S.,
likely to break in early December" (BRANDWEEK, 10/27).
