For decades Bud Light had solidified its position in the beer industry as the top-selling beer in America. However, this all changed when the beer company attempted to remake its brand image and became more inclusive. Bud Light’s promotional partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney has proved to be a complete disaster, pushing the beer company down to the second-best-selling beer in America as sales continue to plummet. The powerful boycott against Bud Light is now beginning its third consecutive month.
Bump Williams Consulting has been continuously analyzing the sales data on Bud Light, providing insight as to how badly the boycott has affected Bud Light. The consulting firm recently looked at data from NielsenIQ which further demonstrates the brewing company has fallen to second place, getting beaten in domestic sales by Modelo Especial. Constellation Brands own United States-based Modelo operations, but outside of North America, Modelo is still owned by Anheuser-Busch. The division of Modelo ownership is due to anti-trust regulation, so buying Model Especial in the U.S. is not supporting Anheuser-Busch.
The sales data confirms that Modelo Especial represented 8.4 percent of all retail beer sales, while Bud Light was only 7.3 percent for the week ending June 3. During the four weeks ending June 3, Bud Light sales have cratered by almost 25 percent while Modelo shot up over 10 percent year-over-year. Aside from Modelo, other Bud Light competitors are seeing similar levels of success amid Anheuser-Busch’s decline. For example, Coors Light and Miller Lite have experienced a collective increase in sales of 21 percent during the week ending June 3 and a 24.4 percent increase in the four weeks ending June 3.
Bump Williams Consulting stated that Bud Light needs to get a grip on the sales decline, its chances of regaining the number one position in the beer market are progressively slimming. Dave Williams, a consultant at the company, stated, “Unless Bud Light starts to experience a serious course correction in terms of performance, which can only come from consumers finding their way back into the brand family, then that firm grip on the No. 1 rank by year-end loosens a bit more every week.”
Williams further discussed how this summer would be crucial for Bud Light’s recovery from the Dylan Mulvaney controversy. However, the consultant noted that summer is when many companies allocate significant investment toward consumer marketing, making it even more difficult for Bud Light to regain its footing. “Companies invest a lot into being front and center and top of mind during this season as there is only so much floor space to allocate; consumer money to spend and beer occasions to fulfill,” he said.
Williams further explained that if a company fails to capitalize on the summer consumer market, it is challenging to recover throughout the rest of the year. “And if a brand misses those opportunities, then that is almost impossible to fully recover that lost potential over the balance of the calendar year,” he said. In Bud Light’s case, it is even more of an uphill battle considering the palpable negative association millions of consumers have toward the brand.
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