Bud Light may overtake Bud this year - newspaper reports Bud Light as top selling beer - Brief Article

Modern Brewery Age, Oct 8, 2001

Associated Press--Budweiser has been toppled from its spot as the best-selling beer in America by an upstart beverage. Bud Light, the drinkers love you, man.

Bud Light recently overtook Budweiser as the top-selling beer in the United States, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported last week. Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. introduced Bud Light in 1982. Since then, the brand consistently has been one of the company's top-performing beers, while sales of Budweiser, its flagship, have steadily declined.

In 1991 the St Louis-based brewery shipped 46.8 million barrels of Budweiser, compared with 12.4 million of Bud Light, according to figures provided by Beer Marketer's Insights, an industry newsletter.

So far this year, sales of Bud Light have jumped 8 percent while those of Budweiser have dropped 2 percent If those trends hold for the rest of this year, the brewery will ship 33.9 million barrels of Bud Light versus 33.4 million barrels of Budweiser.

The company can look at its situation in two ways, said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights. "Yes, Budweiser is no longer the best-selling beer in the U.S.," he said. "But the company controls the world's top two brands (in Bud Light and Budweiser). That's a good problem to have."

Although Bud Light is tops now, Anheuser-Busch was a late entry in the light beer market. Miller Brewing Co., based in Milwaukee, was the first major company to successfully launch a light beer with its national rollout of Miller Lite in 1975.

At the time, Miller was trying to target a more health-conscious 35-year-old male, said Scott Bussen, Miller Lite's marketing communications manager.

Miller needed a way to convince drinkers Miller Lite tasted just as good as other beer. The result was the now-famous "Tastes Great, Less Filling" advertising campaign. Sales of Miller Lite took off.

Anheuser-Busch had no choice but to get into the light beer market, said Bill Finnie, a former director of strategic planning for Anheuser-Busch, who is now a strategy consultant for Grace Advisors.

By the end of 1976, Miller was close to catching Anheuser-Busch in overall beer sales. Trouncing Miller was a top priority for August Busch Ill, just two years into his job as chief executive officer, and Dennis Long, the brewery's president at the time, he said.

To test the waters, the brewery decided to introduce light beer in different price categories: the lower-cost Anheuser-Busch Natural Light in 1977, the higher-end Michelob Light in 1978 and, finally, Bud Light in 1982.

The company also had to overcame Miller Lite's enormous brand recognition, said Finnie. One spot featured men demanding that bartenders give them a "lite" hut instead receiving a spotlight or a blowtorch. "No, no, give me a Bud Light," they replied.

Those early commercials helped Bud Light catch on as well.

And while Bud Light has eclipsed Budweiser domestically, the "King of Beers" still holds its place as the world's best-selling beer, with substantial international sales volume.