Budweiser is in the midst of an all out blitz to convince millennials, those youngins born roughly between 1982 and 2002, that their beer is the cool, hip beer they should all drink. And Budweiser is pulling out all the stops. There’s just one problem: Budweiser’s taste simply doesn’t appeal to younger people who en masse prefer either cheaper alternatives, such as Pabst’s Blue Ribbon, or tastier microbrews.
Budweiser has found itself caught in a no man’s land middle ground. Their beer isn’t exactly cheap, at least not compared to the many alternatives that offer a similar taste. And at the same time, their beer simply doesn’t hold up to the many highly decorated microbrews that are rapidly gaining market share.
And we hate to be the ones to break it to Budweiser, but no amount of marketing is going to make their beer taste any better.
Budweiser, A Poorly Reviewed Beer
The argument that Budweiser simply doesn’t taste good isn’t a personal one either. Ratebeer.com, the world’s leading website for users to rank and rate beer, has awarded Budweiser an overall rating of exactly 0 out of 100. And no, low score doesn’t indicate good beer. In terms of style Budweiser fairs slightly better, receiving a score of 3.
To put that into perspective, Ratebeer’s top 50 beers includes a variety of mostly microbrews scoring 100/100. Hundreds of other microbrews are all scoring 80/100 or more, meaning that in the taste department Budweiser is going to face a lot of stiff competition.
Microbrews cost more than Budweiser, though Bud certainly isn’t the cheapest beer when it comes to American lagers. Regardless, it turns out that millennials are willing to open up their wallets to splurge on microbrews. It’s estimated that some 46% of new craft beer drinkers are millennials.
It should also be noted that many millennials prefer wine and liquor to beer all togethr. Only 37% of millennials say beer is their drink of choice, compared to 41% among Gen X’ers. 24% of millennials say that wine is their preferred drink, compared to only 16% among older generations.
Budweiser’s Strategy Has It Wrong
The problem Budweiser hasn’t fully come to terms with is that their beer simply lacks appeal in regards to taste. Yes, Budweiser’s market strategies may pay off with more millennials picking up some Bud for a taste test, but if millennials come out unconvinced by Budweiser’s taste, what’s the point?
Marketing can bolster sales of a poorly received product by so much. And marketing isn’t cheap either. A single 30 second Super Bowl ad in this year’s game cost about $4.5 million dollars. Budweiser could end up spending a lot of money convincing millennials to give their beer a taste, but given its poor reviews they’ll have a tough time converting millennials into dedicated Budweiser drinkers.
