Bud counter hipster marketing

[PawPaw]

Interesting, Insty points to this article this morning.

The recent drops in beer sales have been especially pronounced at many of the nation’s top brewers. Total shipments of both Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors have slumped as several of their major brands have lost substantial market share. According to data provided by Beer Marketer’s Insights, American sales of seven major brands, including Budweiser, declined by more than 20% between 2008 and 2013.

According to Eric Shepard, executive editor at Beer Marketer’s Insights, major beer brands can still point to the last recession as a contributing factor to their current slump. “The people that got hit hardest in the economic recession were your mainstream beer drinkers — lower- to mid-income males, 25 to 34 [years old],” Shepard said.

Go read, as they say, the whole thing.

[Greg]

It's worth mentioning that for as God awful as bud is, they have some remarkable skill at keeping it consistent. Don't get me wrong, it's shite in a bottle, but it's the exact same every damned time.

Funny, I once went on a tour of a local 'craft' brewery. The master brewer had nothing but good things to say about the skills of Bud's brewers. Not so much about the end product, but achieving that degree of consistency is difficult.

I don't find Bud bad, I just find it 'dumbed down'. It's had all the edges filed off to be as lowest-common-denominator as possible. Like many fast food burgers, or sugary breakfast cereals. It's a soft drink with alcohol, if you understand the contradiction in terms. But it's not bad.

Ballantine is bad. A friend's father used to drink that stuff exclusively. I tried one once, it made me nauseous.

[blackeagle603]

Bud is the In-N-Out burger of beers. Consistently, reliably, below average flavor made with quality inputs yielding a familiar taste at low-ish pricing. Gee, sounds like a mass market product.

[Greg]

Bud is the In-N-Out burger of beers. Consistently, reliably, below average flavor made with quality inputs yielding a familiar taste at low-ish pricing. Gee, sounds like a mass market product.

Indeed. Nothing wrong with that.

The only problem is when simplified mass market products are the *only* choice. Then you have pent-up unmet needs (even if people are not consciously aware of it) that lead to a renaissance or revolution. Like the coffee, craft brewing, and artisanal bread revolutions we've had.

[Vonz90]

Bud is the In-N-Out burger of beers. Consistently, reliably, below average flavor made with quality inputs yielding a familiar taste at low-ish pricing. Gee, sounds like a mass market product.

Indeed. Nothing wrong with that.

The only problem is when simplified mass market products are the *only* choice. Then you have pent-up unmet needs (even if people are not consciously aware of it) that lead to a renaissance or revolution. Like the coffee, craft brewing, and artisanal bread revolutions we've had.

I like the term "inoffensive". I don't like the stuff, but it is better than the alternatives at times (say at a ballgame). It is never good, but at least it isn't vile.

BTW - The brew masters at A-B here in St. Louis are almost all Germans to the point that they speak German on the shop floor (or whatever they call it). I guess they pay them well to come over here and work, but I've always wondered if they regret not being able to work on truly good stuff.

[SoupOrMan]

Pfft. It's no Stag, my preferred beer at hockey games.

Then again, Stag really isn't Stag anymore.

[blackeagle603]

Nephew (by marriage) is a Chem Eng major at Cal Poly. Last summer's internship was at that Miller brewery up near Arcadia. For a former Navy AO he's not much of a beer drinker. Or maybe that's because of his years in the Fleet as an AO...

Anyhow, he was quite impressed with the whole brewery thing. Felt at home, a bit like being back on a ship with all that plumbing and machinery -- but a whole lot cleaner. They (Altria) have been pinging him regularly for another summer internship and thinking about a career with them. Sounds like he'll go towards a refinery next summer though. Probably in Carson. Maybe up in Benicia. They're recruiting his class heavily too.

[Steamforger]

Bud is the In-N-Out burger of beers. Consistently, reliably, below average flavor made with quality inputs yielding a familiar taste at low-ish pricing. Gee, sounds like a mass market product.

Indeed. Nothing wrong with that.

The only problem is when simplified mass market products are the *only* choice. Then you have pent-up unmet needs (even if people are not consciously aware of it) that lead to a renaissance or revolution. Like the coffee, craft brewing, and artisanal bread revolutions we've had.

I like the term "inoffensive". I don't like the stuff, but it is better than the alternatives at times (say at a ballgame). It is never good, but at least it isn't vile.

BTW - The brew masters at A-B here in St. Louis are almost all Germans to the point that they speak German on the shop floor (or whatever they call it). I guess they pay them well to come over here and work, but I've always wondered if they regret not being able to work on truly good stuff.

We had some of Ze Germans come into town back at MSU to do a week in our classes as part of their study abroad that semester. Two were former Bundeswehr and we got along rather well. Two things struck me as odd though. They hated anything that wasn't a piss yellow pilsner and we Spartans had no issues at all keeping up with their numbers while kicking back 7-10% abv IPAs.

I was expecting more of a challenge.....

[Greg]

All the American 'piss' beers are technically Pilseners, and it was mainly Germans that brought the recipes and the taste for the stuff. Immigrants from other places drank other stuff, like ale.

[JohnOC]

BTW - The brew masters at A-B here in St. Louis are almost all Germans to the point that they speak German on the shop floor (or whatever they call it). I guess they pay them well to come over here and work, but I've always wondered if they regret not being able to work on truly good stuff.

Keep in mind, A-B owns quite a few of those "craft" labels, and those Germans likely are getting to work on many more batches of products other than the generic inoffensive mass-market swill label.