Bud Light just made a drastic change to get millennials' attention
Bud LightBud Light looks nearly unrecognizable, thanks to a makeover intended to attract modern beer lovers.
The new, very blue design attempts to modernize Bud Light, while linking the brand to Anheuser-Busch's brewing credentials. That means a new logo, the elimination of the color red, and the return of the "AB" crest after 14 years removed from cans and bottles.
"Consumers today want a brand with genuine brewing credentials," Tosh Hall, the creative director of Jones Knowles Ritchie, the firm that collaborated with Bud Light's creative agency on the redesign, said in a statement. "Bud Light is leaning into its heritage and unrivaled brewing expertise in a way that's looking forward, not back."
The new cans and bottles will roll out nationwide in early spring 2016.
According to Bud Light, the redesign is part of a larger brand evolution planned for the upcoming year. Earlier this year, Bud Light confirmed it would debut a new tagline and creative approach before the Super Bowl, which will take place on February 7, 2016.
Reuters
While Bud Light is still the top-selling beer in America, sales have dropped significantly in recent years. An increasing number of drinkers have become disenchanted with the light beer, moving away from ease of drinking toward more complex craft beers.
As Bud Light continues to make up about 18 to 19% of Anheuser-Busch InBev's US business, a redesign that boosts the brand in millennials' esteem would be a major victory for the company.
"We are going to have what we think is going to be revolutionary in terms of trying to understand where the brand came from and trying to learn from its amazing 20-plus years history from zero to a market leader in the US," Anheuser-Busch InBev's CEO Carlos Brito said in an earnings call in in October. "We believe in brands that are well-managed and brands that could be better managed. And Bud Light is one of those that could be better managed, and that's what we have for next year."