Dive Brief:
- Bud Light is boasting a new all-blue design (with white lettering) in the biggest packaging change the brand has seen in eight years. The new packaging will hit shelves toward the end of March to the beginning of April.
- Notably missing is the color red, which has been a part of the label in some form since the brand's 1982 debut, and the C-shaped design that has also appeared in various forms on the packaging for a majority of the last decade.
- The new packaging also plays up Bud Light's ownership by Anheuser-Busch InBev, as it sports the AB InBev seal prominently at the top of the label above the Bud Light name. That crest used to be featured on Bud Light's original can before going away in 2001.
Dive Insight:
Bud Light's revamped packaging will appear in a corresponding ad campaign that analysts suspect will feature celebrities and put an end to the millennial-centric "The Perfect Beer for Whatever Happens" campaign. That campaign ran for the past almost two years and will be replaced by a campaign that targets a broader age group.
The overhaul is no small undertaking for Bud Light, as the branding change affects not only the packaging but also beer truck facings, bar signs, and stadiums, glassware updates, and beyond.
This re-branding strategy is key for Bud Light at the moment, because though the brand is still the U.S. market leader with 17.5% of the market share, Bud Light is struggling with lagging sales to retailers, which fell by low single digits in the first nine months of 2015. That led to a loss of market share in the light beer segment, which itself is struggling against the growing popularity of craft and imported beer.
In another modernized marketing attempt, Bud Light unveiled the Bud-E smart fridge earlier this year, which lets consumers know when their stash is running low and connects them through an app automatically with a beer delivery supplier, the brand's nod to the growing e-commerce trend.