Anheuser-Busch InBev will focus two of their six Super Bowl commercials on a new product, Bud Light Platinum. This new beer is targeted toward "younger, urban drinkers" in an attempt to boost revenue, currently being adversely affected by a general market shift toward liquor amid younger consumers and poor or flat performance within rural markets.

ABI's Marketing VP is quoted as saying, "With Platinum, we feel like we can come up with compelling propositions that can compete on image and that can compete on taste and have these people come back to beer and stay in beer." That all sounds fine to me, but I am interested to see how these two commercials and subsequent advertisements for Bud Light Premium brand a product focused on "image" and "taste" as being for a more "urban" audience then Bud Light (as from what I can tell, Bud light also is consistently targeted toward younger crowds).

Is it smart for ABI to indirectly tell Bud Light drinkers who aren't "urban" that the Bud Light Premium product is not for them? Does it make sense to split their younger audience into "urban" and "rural" segments, and target the Bud Light Premium product specifically to "urban" audiences? Do they have more to gain from this strategy or more to lose?

My opinion is, ABI has more sales to gain from this strategy rather than lose. However, ABI stands to lose with this strategy if they communicate that only urban drinkers are interested in "image" and "taste". It will be interesting to see how ABI goes to market with these two products in the coming months.

http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/anheuser-busch-planned-super-bowl/232380