So, in the wake of Memorial Day, when Bud Light was hoping to save itself, how are things looking now after two months of a boycott against the brand?
When we last left them about a week ago, the sales volume was down by almost 30 percent and I noted that they were in danger of losing their “number one beer in America” title to Modelo Especial.
In part, because of all the efforts by Bud Light to sell beer for basically nothing, the drop this week is not quite as steep as the prior week, but it’s still significant and it’s still dropping.
The latest industry figures, obtained by Newsweek via Bumps Williams Consulting, showed Bud Light suffered a 23.9 percent drop in sales value and a 27.8 percent tumble in volume year-on-year in the week ending May 27. That decline was overall much less steep than the one reported by the company in the previous week, when, according to BWC, it lost 25.7 percent in sales and 29.5 percent in volume.
From the numbers they have so far, it doesn’t look like Memorial Day saved them. There’s only so long they can offer the beer up for essentially free.
Almost two-thirds of beer distributors said Anheuser-Busch sales volumes were down on Memorial Day, while 62 percent said inventories are significantly higher in a survey.
A survey by investment firm Jefferies Group found that 65% of beer distributors expect the Bud Light boycott to continue for six more months and another 32% think it could be permanent, according to Brewbound, a beer industry publication. [….]
A separate distributor survey by Goldman Sachs showed most respondents do not believe Bud Light will make a “full recovery” in its “brand equity and market share,” Brewbound reported. Goldman’s survey was taken with 57 distributors who serve 200,000 retail outlets.
be careful if you are boycotting bud….like we are….they make Modelo but don’t have the distribution in north america. they make many many brands…educate yourselves. no modelo for us