Germany: Anheuser-Busch Cos. invests $70 million in sponsorship and related marketing and advertising efforts for World Cup campaign

Though Anheuser-Busch Cos. draws kudos for its Super Bowl advertising, the St. Louis brewer's biggest sporting event investment is the monthlong World Cup that kicks off June 09 in Germany, The Saint-Louis Today posted June 09.

The World Cup not only helps lift the global image of flagship brand Budweiser, but its value as a domestic marketing tool has increased along with soccer's popularity in the United States.

During the 2006 World Cup, Anheuser-Busch will invest more than $70 million in sponsorship and related marketing and advertising efforts. That's more than A-B spends on either the Super Bowl or the Olympics.

For good reason. International soccer organization FIFA estimates the live television audience worldwide of the 2002 World Cup averaged about 353 million per match.

Besides visibility, the World Cup allows Budweiser to tap into the intense passion of soccer fans, said Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing at the brewer's domestic subsidiary.

"I think the World Cup still is more passionate as a sporting event in more countries than even the Olympics," he said.

Anheuser-Busch has been a World Cup promoter since 1986. Yet, the sponsorship has grown more valuable as the brewer increases investments in China and expands globally.

The game itself is growing more popular in the United States as the children of soccer moms grow into adults.

"I really think that, within 10 years, soccer has the potential to be as big or bigger than hockey," said Gregg Bennett, a professor at Texas A&M University who specializes in sports marketing.

Though a big baseball fan, he'll be attending his first World Cup party this year.

"So in little College Station, Texas, there are going to be World Cup parties," Bennett said. "You're going to see that type of thing this year."

A big factor pushing soccer has been the rising Hispanic population, an ethnic group that Anheuser-Busch and other consumer products companies are eagerly targeting.

"There's strong (Hispanic) interest in baseball and boxing, but there's really nothing like the interest in soccer," Ponturo said.

With plans to run ads during Spanish-language network Univision's broadcasts of the matches, A-B hopes to squeeze the most out of its sponsorship.

"Anheuser-Busch is shrewd," Bennett said. "They realize you can reach the Hispanic market without doing (traditional) Hispanic marketing."

Of course, Anheuser-Busch found itself facing a conundrum due to the World Cup's location.

In Germany, the brewer can't sell Budweiser under the name "Budweiser" or "Bud" because of trademark restrictions. Instead, it can only promote the beer as "Anheuser Busch Bud."

As part of its sponsorship, Anheuser-Busch has "pouring rights," making it the exclusive beer vendor at all the German venues. That provoked a reaction by local fans wanting to consume a German beer at the matches.

But the brewer solved the dilemma through a deal with German brewer Bitburger Brauerei. Five years ago, Bitburger blocked A-B from registering the "Bud" trademark, saying that it sounded too similar to its trademark "Bit."

Now, Anheuser-Busch will permit Bitburger to also sell beer at the matches. In return, Bitburger will allow A-B to use the "Bud" trademark on signs at games.

The deal was a coup for Anheuser-Busch because on-field signs are a critical marketing tool at soccer games.

Professional football and baseball games offer numerous breaks for television commercials. But the World Cup matches are played continuously, with a break only at halftime.

Anheuser-Busch focused its marketing dollars and advertising creativity toward its core foreign markets of the United Kingdom and China, running special ads and promotions that gave consumers the chance to win a trip to the World Cup.

For the U.S. market, however, the World Cup efforts are less intense than the Super Bowl given lower domestic interest.

Instead of new advertising, the brewer will draw commercials from an existing pool of spots, which will identify the brewer as a World Cup sponsor.

The brewer's U.S. campaign includes World Cup-related packaging on its Budweiser beer and an array of display material for bars and supermarkets.

How eagerly U.S. consumers embrace the marketing depends on the matches themselves.

"If there is a story developing, such as the U.S. team going deep into the matches, … that's going to grow the audience even more," Ponturo said.

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