Budweiser previously sponsored the U.S. Olympic team. However it ended that 32-year run in 2017.
The company already has some experience bringing its 0% variants to a major sporting event. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, AB InBev was forced to rethink on-the-ground activations and replace Budweiser with Budweiser Zero after government officials U-turned the sale of alcohol within stadium perimeters.
The latest deal will also cover the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
A global plan
Zoning in on Corona Cero for the Paris Summer Olympics will also help AB InBev ensure that it is complying with strict alcohol advertising rules in France.
“Loi Evin” (or “Evin’s Law”) prohibits beer and spirit brands from advertising on TV, at cultural or sporting events or in untargeted media spaces.
When it comes to broadcast, leading with a 0% beer will make it easier for AB InBev to conduct its sponsorship and branding placement in line with rules in countries including India and Norway, which have similarly tight protocol.
Vicky Chew, managing partner at sports and entertainment marketing agency Fuse said leading with a no-alcohol product was a “tactical” move from AB InBev; allowing it to showcase responsible drinking and a product more suited to the sporting landscape while protecting commercial interests.
She continued: “By taking over both categories, AB InBev is ensuring its brand territory is protected with the deal and other competitors can’t enter the fray. It also helps further promote AB InBev’s ‘Smart Drinking’ strategy which has seen it increasingly invest in no and low alcohol brands across Europe in 2022.”
She said in the future, we could see more brewing businesses adapting to associate themselves with sport, through their “no or low” brands, pointing to Seedlip’s recently-announced global partnership with Mercedes’ AMG Petronas F1 Team.
AB InBev’s deal follows a tumultuous 12 months for one of its most famous brands, Bud Light. In 2023, the beer was knocked off its spot as America’s bestselling bottle following a backlash from conservatives over a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and a resulting boycott from LGBTQ+ communities and their allies.
At the end of 2023, Bud Light signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with the UFC.
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