Evolving partnership built on solid foundation: Scott Halliburton is a senior key account manager with the Anheuser-Busch Wal-Mart team based in Bentonville

DSN Retailing Today, Dec 13, 2004

DSNRT: WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE ON THE MINDS OF SUPPLIERS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS?

SH: A key issue is the number of suppliers moving into northwest Arkansas, the increased competition and how you go to market with Wal-Mart. As far as the majority of suppliers in town, I would say they are concerned about economic growth in the area as well as competitors establishing a greater presence.

DSNRT: TALK ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ANHEUSER-BUSCH BRAND IN THE MARKETPLACE AT A TIME WHEN MOST RETAILERS ARE PURSUING PRIVATE BRANDS TO GROW SALES AND MARGIN.

SH: Wal-Mart to our knowledge has not pursued any private label brands in the beer category. Alcott Ridge, which was the private label wine they came out with was moderately successful. Although we talk about the possibility of store brands in our plans, we are not concerned they are coming out with anything and we look to grow our business with the premium light beer brands that are out there currently.

DSNRT: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO ACHIEVING GROWTH IN THE CATEGORIES IN WHICH ANHEUSER-BUSCH COMPETES?

SH: The beer category is relatively flat, and therefore growth is not easy to achieve. Most growth by any retailer is achieved by them out performing or out executing their competition.

DSNRT: AS WAL-MART HAS GROWN, HOW HAS ANHEUSER-BUSCH EVOLVED THE STRUCTURE OF ITS TEAM?

SH: We committed additional resources to Wal-Mart when I came here in 1999 and we expanded again in late 2000. Since then, the beer category growth has been relatively flat and we have not added any additional resources. We look to utilize the existing resources within the Anheuser-Busch system and move them maybe to a Wal-Mart account position but we are not growing our headcount.

DSNRT: HOW DO YOU UTILIZE PARTNER COMPANIES TO HELP CREATE, PLAN AND EXECUTE IN-STORE EVENTS?

SH: We have our own marketing and sales promotion department and we have wholesalers that distribute our products directly to stores. Between making deliveries and merchandising they are in the stores about every day so when we do in store events we use our sales promotion group and have our wholesalers handle execution.

DSNRT: WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR RFID ONCE THE TECHNOLOGY IS FULLY IMPLEMENTED?

SH: We are not really sure where the technology is going to go but we are investing in it. We do think it is exciting and as it continues to evolve may save us costs on inventory and increase visibility in the supply chain. We currently have tracking systems in place that tell us where our product is throughout the distribution system in case there are any quality-control issues. RFID may replace some of those systems that we are using currently, we are just not sure how quickly that might happen and how the technology will evolve.

DSNRT: WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SUCCESS AT ANHEUSER-BUSCH DURING THE PAST YEAR?

SH: We were fortunate to have two Wal-Mart executives pick Michelob Ultra as their VPI. Year to date, Michelob Ultra is up 50% nationally in sales and Wal-Mart's sales numbers exceed that. When senior executives pick our item it makes it pretty fun and it makes it easier to get merchandising execution at the store level.

DSNRT: LOOKING AHEAD TO THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF 2005, WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

SH: We have several new brands coming out over the next few months and we look for them to continue to grow our business. Wal-Mart is usually all over new items and out executes the competition when they are introduced. We are looking forward to rolling out those items and continuing to execute with the existing items that are doing well.

DSNRT: WAL-MART HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF EXTENSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE IN RECENT YEARS AND MUCH OF IT HAS BEEN NEGATIVE. DO YOU THINK THERE IS AN ASPECT OF THE STORY PEOPLE ARE MISSING?

SH: I watched the recent CNBC special on Wal-Mart and it was fairly balanced with a lot of the negatives and the positives. What people miss is that Wal-Mart really does help and contribute in the local communities.

The other thing is if you go to them with a product that will sell and add something to their bottom line they will give you an opportunity to do that. Although they are big by their size, they look at things by item and by store and don't look at themselves as a $300 billion company.

We try to educate our wholesalers on how Wal-Mart works, how the company is structured and how they can be successful in servicing Wal-Mart to grow their business.