Posted on 04/09/2023 8:45:41 PM PDT by DoodleBob
AB InBev, the brewer behind the Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois beer brands, has hailed record full year volumes in 2022, as well as the strong performance of its premium portfolio. The business claimed this success was “driven by the investment in [its] marketing capabilities”.
While sales and marketing investment fell in 2022 compared to the year prior, CEO Michel Doukeris told investors today (2 March) the company will continue to invest behind its brands as they “deserve” because their “power” drives growth at the business.
Across the full year, volumes grew by 2.3% to reach an “all-time high”, the company reported. However, the business did see softening towards the end of 2022, with volumes declining 0.6% in its fourth quarter. This is the first time the business has reported a volume decline since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, price increases more than offset this volume decline, with revenues rising 10.2% year-on-year to $14.47bn (£12.09bn). Across the full year, revenues rose by 11.2% to $57.79bn (£48.28bn).
Despite the inflationary environment in Europe, volumes continued to grow in the last three months by low single digits.
AB InBev, the brewer behind the Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois beer brands, has hailed record full year volumes in 2022, as well as the strong performance of its premium portfolio. The business claimed this success was “driven by the investment in [its] marketing capabilities”.
While sales and marketing investment fell in 2022 compared to the year prior, CEO Michel Doukeris told investors today (2 March) the company will continue to invest behind its brands as they “deserve” because their “power” drives growth at the business.
Across the full year, volumes grew by 2.3% to reach an “all-time high”, the company reported. However, the business did see softening towards the end of 2022, with volumes declining 0.6% in its fourth quarter. This is the first time the business has reported a volume decline since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, price increases more than offset this volume decline, with revenues rising 10.2% year-on-year to $14.47bn (£12.09bn). Across the full year, revenues rose by 11.2% to $57.79bn (£48.28bn).
Despite the inflationary environment in Europe, volumes continued to grow in the last three months by low single digits.
AB InBev invested $6.8bn (£5.7bn) in sales and marketing in 2022, compared to $7.3bn (£6.1bn) the year prior. CEO Michel Doukeris did not provide a figure for anticipated 2023 spend, but pointed out marketing investment has remained around the $7bn (£5.9bn) mark since 2019.
“Our plans are to continue to invest behind these brands,” Doukeris said, claiming the company saw its brand measures across its portfolio reach an all-time high this year.
Effectiveness of spend is as important as level of spend for the company, he said, claiming it has stepped up its effectiveness in its creativity through its digital transformation and its in-house creative agency DraftLine.
Doukeris pointed to AB InBev being named the world’s most effective marketer in the Global Effie Effectiveness Index. He also highlighted the recognition it received for its creativity in 2022, winning 50 Cannes Lions last year.
Approximately 63% of the business’s revenues are now generated through B2B digital platforms. As the company steps up its digital capabilities both in B2B and DTC offerings, it is generating the ability to apply data at scale to its campaigns, Doukeris said.
Premium success
AB InBev reported premium brands now make up over half (55%) of its revenue in Europe.
Premiumisation has been a key focus for AB InBev. These premium brands saw revenue growth in the low-teens across the year. The company highlighted Corona and Stella Artois, which grew their revenues at 18.6% and 11.7%, respectively. In Europe, Corona grew revenues by more than 20%.
The company has also been seeking to broaden its consumer base by focusing on its Beyond Beer segment, as well as through premiumisation. It saw more female consumers buying into its brands during 2022, the business claimed.
It has also been looking to tap into more consumption occasions, such as no and low-alcohol beverages. It launched no-alcohol Corona Cero in Europe last year.
At-home consumption experience is another area it has sought to tap into. The company says its at-home beer tap PerfectDraft now has more machines in homes than there are pubs and bars in the UK and France.
England is a Muslim country. Paving the way for no drinking in public on the way to no drinking at all.
Riding high in 21, shot themselves down in April.
That’s funny. You mean like how “We” crushed the NFL with boycotts?
Hershey’s is still selling chocolate
The NFL still exists
Gillette is still on store shelves
Frito-lay is still around
Dicks sporting goods are still around
Netflix is still around
Exactly which companies have gone broke from going woke?
It's a fair question, to ask what person in marketing didn't examine the possible blowback on this strategy. It's like when Balenciaga ran that creepy child porn-like advertising campaign. And for what it's worth, most of the folks I know under 35 aren't creeped out by gays but the trans stuff IS very much at WTF kind of thing.
What people on this side of the fence need to ask, is what is the compelling alternative to Divine circa 2023 as a spokesman? What campaign would WE run to sell more bad beer, to folks under 35?
We should have destroyed the Dems in the midterms, and we barely took the House. Why? Because there's no leadership. There is no offense outside of Trump and DeSantis. Nobody else is driving a pro-growth, pro-liberty, "here is what WE stand for" message. It's not enough to say "we aren't Bidet or Merrick Garland or Pelosi, and we're not weird."
Bud Light is the battle for the heart of America in a microcosm. And based on the responses so far, clearly people don't understand the war being fought. We need messaging that invigorates, leads, and captivates people, for beer or freedom...not just "boycott them because he's icky."
Until then, it's the left that is driving the truck, and keeping us on defense. Stand FOR something.
I wondered how my wife’s family would react. They are heavy beer drinkers who normally drink several cases of A-B products at family gatherings. At our Easter celebration yesterday, the outrage at what A-B did was ferocious, and not one of their products was consumed.
Budweiser ... The Queen of Beers.
When you say Budweiser.....you’ve said it, doll!
How far they have fallen.
Bring back the Clydesdales...and, American ownership.
You have no right...
You have no right to make sense on this forum!!!!
Be gone with you...LOL
Crap in the nfl changed.....
We did that
Check the sales....
These companies are smaller than they were...
And the new companies are booming
Boycotts work, but only if they remain in effect
We have leaders out there...
Here in michiganstan they are being arrested.
Funny, it was the topic at my Easter gathering as well, many switched to Coors Banquet beer.
At our Easter family gathering, we had no AB products.
Only Shiners.
Where I went to school a guy in a pickup truck would empty the aluminum cans from the dumpsters every Sunday behind Fraternity row and he told me he paid for his F150 with the proceeds. Maybe he would refuse to pick them up now because of the transgender on them and leave it to the new guy with the purple hair driving an old Mary Kay cadillac.
Stella Artois beer is good.
I'm working on preserving my precious bodily fluids.
AB lost 3 billion in market cap today so far.
Indeed. there were NFL threads all season right here on FR.
I will say this, from 1987 or so when I sipped a Bud Light...I found that it lacked a true beer taste (having had a few German beers in my life). That was the first and last taste I had of it.
How it proceeded up the chain? I think the management wrangled a lot of sports arenas to only carry it. There must have been a lot of free gifts/bribes along the way.
The trouble I now see...most everyone readily admits there are better beers out there, especially the craft type. If you dislodge the sports arena crowd and they flip to various other types...I could see 30-percent to 50-percent of the core audience gone in just six months.
My general prediction...it gets rebranded....probably with some Hispanic word/phrase, and the VP for marketing is given $3-million to just quietly walk away.
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