AB InBev to pour more ad spend into social media
AB InBev has signaled plans to pour more of its media budget into social media campaigns after revealing it has learnt how to use the marketing channel ‘more effectively’ following the success of its Super Bowl activity.
Video: Bud Light Super Bowl ad starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjPukKU7dKk
The brewer told analysts yesterday evening (26 February) it was planning to “step-up” marketing spend in 2014, particularly in social media, to take advantage of the World Cup.
The Super Bowl campaigns for its Budweiser and Bud Light brands had left it with better best practice examples on how to generate buzz before, during and after big global events, it added.
AB InBev shifted more of its media spend to social channels such as Twitter and Facebook for this year’s game, a move it said generated a record “60 million views” and dominated “all brands in the US in terms of social conversation” around the event.
It ran a total of five ads, three for Bud Light and two for Budweiser, but integrated them far more with its social media and digital activations than previous Super Bowl efforts. FMCG companies such as Mondelez have been making similar moves in an effort to reduce wastage from their media budgets and rely on cheaper marketing channels.
Carlos Brito, chief executive of AB InBev, said: “We believe that 2014 Super Bowl execution was our best ever with our brand generating nearly half of all social media traffic during the game across all categories, giving us great insights into how to best connect with millienials.”
The insights will fuel the brewer’s attempts to cascade social media initiatives throughout the world after it claimed television has become a “secondary medium” to social channels when developing marketing campaigns.