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- [Narrator] Budweiser is
a classic American brand

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but with changing consumer taste,

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can it avoid becoming a relic of the past?

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(upbeat music)

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To celebrate Memorial
Day back in May 2016,

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Budweiser temporarily renamed
itself simply as America.

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Think about that.

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No other beer in almost any other country

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could assume to name itself
after their home nation,

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even on a temporary basis,
without expecting and getting

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either widespread outcry,
or just mocked mercilessly.

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Would Becks ever rename itself Germany?

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Or Guinness use the
word Ireland on its cans

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in place of the brand name?

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Such as the status of
Budweiser in the United States

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that not only did they do
it, but it sold well enough

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to repeat the stunt a year later.

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Yet, while Bud was claiming
to be the beer of America,

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the market place was
telling a different story.

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Over the last decade,
changing consumer tastes

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have knocked the iconic
brand from its perch.

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With the rise in hard
booze and wine sales,

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the explosion of craft beer,

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and the increasing
popularity of light beer,

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the former king is now
struggling to reclaim its throne.

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Launched in 1876, Anheuser
Bush's marquee brand

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declared itself the king
of beers in the 1940's.

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♪ Budweiser beer is for folks who know ♪

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♪ Where's there's life ♪

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♪ There's Bud ♪

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♪ The King of Beers ♪

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♪ Budweiser ♪

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That's just how advertising
worked back then.

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However, the modern brand
was really born in the 1980's

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when it's advertising strategy went all in

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on a single demographic,
dudes who watch sports.

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Bud sales peaked in 1988,

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selling more than 50 million barrels.

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It's a brand that uses the
Super Bowl to constantly

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remind people of its iconic status.

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From the ludicrous Bud
Bowl ads in the late 80's

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to talking frogs in
1995 to wassup in 2000.

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Sorry.

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To a collection of adorable puppy related

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hits in more recent years.

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But the last couple of decades
have arguably been some

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of its toughest on the market.

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Budweiser was the top selling
U.S. beer for decades until

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2001, when it passed the crown
to its sibling, Bud Light.

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Then, in 2011, Coors Light knocked Bud

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out of the second spot.

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And last year, Miller Lite
took over third place,

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pushing Bud to number four.

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I spoke to Monica Rustgi,
Vice President of Marketing

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for Budweiser about what they're doing to

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try to claw back that number one spot.

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- [Monica] There's two
things that really are

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the driving force towards
ensuring that we don't

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grow stale with time.

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And one piece is innovation.

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Most recently, in the last
two years we've introduced

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the Budweiser Reserve series,
which has been a huge success

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for us because it's introduced new news

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to the lager category.

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And the second thing that
we're noticing has changed

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is obviously choices.

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The beer category at large
is in decline as a result of

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introduction and proliferation
of wines and spirits.

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Those are the realities and
we've accepted them quickly.

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And what's exciting about this
is whenever there's pressure

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comes forced creativity.

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You know what?
Let's call our partners at

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Jim Beam and see if they would
create something with us.

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Understanding that there's
an existing behavior

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with consumers, you get, have
a Bud and a shot of Beam.

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We're like, let's listen to
what consumers are already doing

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and see if there's any
new news we can bring

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to that category.

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So, we just recently released
the Budweiser Copper Lager

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aged on Jim Beam bourbon barrel staves

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which has been the strongest
of all of our Reserve

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offerings in the last two years.

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That's in response to
a change in behavior.

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- [Narrator] But it's not
just its innovation that

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the brand's had to evolve.

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Bud has also had to rethink
how younger consumers

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interact with and experience the brand.

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- [Monica] Attention now, more than ever,

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is the toughest thing to fight for

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because there's more than just TV, right?

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And it's forced us to think
about what are cultural

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tensions, what do consumers care about,

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what's that big idea
that's gonna cut through,

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rise above, not necessarily be like

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white noise vanilla and be forgettable.

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It's all about being
remarkable and memorable.

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So, it's really forced us to raise the bar

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on not only the creative
we put out, the formats

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that we bring it to the
world but also taking risks.

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And I think that's a
very important part of

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moving the needle.

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- [Narrator] Bud is still an
incredibly powerful brand.

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One that carries weight around the world.

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Synonymous with America
and American pop culture.

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With recent initiatives like
brewing with 100% renewable

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energy and using the Super
Bowl to hype wind power,

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Bud is evolving in intriguing ways.

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- [Monica] I think the
big thing that we're gonna

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continue to evolve and focus
on is how we get the new

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generation to fall in love with our lager

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the way the generations before have.

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- [Narrator] It looks
like the challenges of the

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booze market and reaching an
audience in the digital age

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have finally jump started
the beer giant to kick

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its innovative ambition into high gear.

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It's gonna need every ounce it can muster

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to avoid becoming just another
throwback logo on a t-shirt.

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And keep the Budweiser brand
strong for another 150 years.

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(upbeat music)