Work

Brewing Innovation: Making Big Splash Beyond Light Beer

  • Alcohol
  • CPG
bud light seltzer full flannel limited edition variety pack

The Challenge

To support its ambitious growth objectives and drive customer loyalty in a changing consumer landscape, Bud Light had to build a strong brand that would allow it to capitalize on potential new business opportunities. Vivaldi partnered with Bud Light to advance its global leadership and demonstrate its role as an innovator.

The Opportunity

To position the company as a disruptor in a constantly shifting space and prepare the brand for future expansion, Bud Light had to identify clear opportunities for innovation within beer and beyond. It was also crucial for Bud Light to develop a brand architecture that was closely aligned with consumer taste preferences and demand moments.

The Outcome

Our strategic collaboration served as a roadmap for Bud Light’s future growth strategy and was used to highlight its innovation capabilities and breadth of offerings. The launch of Fall Flannel and Out of Office Limited Time Offer packs helped Bud Light gain 14% market share in the seltzer space.

How do you help a giant in the industry demonstrate its role as an innovator?

Since 1982 Bud Light has been the go-to light beer for millions of Americans. But with consumer preferences changing, Bud Light needed help thinking about how to move beyond beer. Bud Light enlisted Vivaldi as a growth partner to identify new consumer opportunities, develop concepts and bring new products to market.  

Tapping into consumer tastes

With the initial goal to help Bud Light develop a brand architecture that would invite consumers to embrace fun and social occasions with new light beverage products, Vivaldi looked at category trends, conducted social listening, and interviewed consumers to gather data around their needs. From this, insights were developed, using quantitative findings to define consumer taste preferences and identify demand moments. 

This new brand architecture helped organize Bud Light’s current portfolio and identify clear opportunities for innovation within beer and beyond. Vivaldi further developed a product pipeline to take Bud Light into the future and to keep them relevant with consumers, year over year. This has led to the launch of the Fall Flannel and Out of Office Limited Time Offer packs, as well as numerous other products in development. These innovative concepts, rooted in consumer strategy, have helped Bud Light gain 14% market share in the seltzer space.  

“We helped Bud Light demonstrate its role as an innovator in the category and develop products that bring newness to a crowded space.”
— Tracy Huser, Partner, Vivaldi