The Wall Street Journal-20080213-Anheuser to Offer Lime in Bud Light

Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080213

Anheuser to Offer Lime in Bud Light

Full Text (360  words)

Anheuser-Busch Cos. said it will launch a lime-infused version of Bud Light as part of an effort to spice up the company's lackluster sales.

Anheuser, the largest U.S. brewer by revenue, will begin selling Bud Light Lime nationally in May, seeking to reach light-beer drinkers who prefer sweeter-tasting brews. The beverage is the latest from Anheuser to address U.S. consumers' growing appetite for drinks with exotic flavors.

The launch will come about a year after Anheuser rival Miller Brewing, the U.S. unit of London's SABMiller PLC, rolled out Miller Chill, a lime-and-salt-flavored lager modeled after Mexican concoctions known as micheladas. Chill has helped Miller reverse sales declines and increase profits.

Dave Peacock, Anheuser's vice president of marketing, said that the St. Louis brewer began to weigh offering Bud Light with lime two years ago and that the drink isn't a response to Miller Chill. The beer, which won't contain salt, is designed in part to meet demand for beverages for outdoor occasions, Mr. Peacock said.

"Imitation is always the sincerest form of flattery," Miller Brewing said in a statement regarding the new brand.

Anheuser plans to spend more than $35 million on advertising and other promotions for Bud Light Lime this year. The beer will sell at a premium to Bud Light, with a six-pack costing about $1 or $1.50 more, Mr. Peacock said. Bud Light is the world's best-selling beer by volume.

Anheuser has had early success with its national rollout of another mixed beverage, Chelada, which combines Budweiser or Bud Light with Cadbury Schweppes PLC's Clamato tomato-juice cocktail.

John Greening, a former advertising-agency executive who worked with Anheuser, said he is concerned the brewer is diluting its leading brand. "Their hot hand has always been Bud Light," said Mr. Greening, now a professor of marketing communications at Northwestern University. "This takes the attention away from the hot hand."

Anheuser controls about 48% of the U.S. beer market. But sales of the company's major brands have been sluggish. U.S. sales to retailers rose only 1.3% by volume last year.

Plans for Bud Light Lime were reported earlier by several industry publications, including Beer Marketer's Insights and Beer Business Daily.