Budweiser’s Todd Allen on Global Marketing, FIFA & Creative Effectiveness

Up today, we're gonna be speaking with Todd Allen, Global Head of Marketing at Budweiser. Todd, so excited to have you on today's episode. Thanks so much for joining.

Thanks for having me, Matt. Looking forward to the conversation.

Absolutely. We're gonna start by quickly getting to know a little bit about you. You've had a long career in the packaged goods and, and beverage space, and we'd love to hear a little bit about your journey.

Yes, I've been in FMCG for I've been in sales for well over 20 years now. Started in Canada working for Unilever in various sales and marketing roles for about 10 years. And then I joined Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2012 and have been with the company for 10 years. Again, in Canada, leading brands like Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra. Had the good fortune to do my first stint in our global headquarters leading L'Artois globally for a couple years in 2015, then went back to Canada to be the CMO for our Canadian operation. And for the last 2 years, I've been back here at global headquarters leading marketing for Budweiser. So an honor and privilege to work for the world's most valuable alcohol brand here.

Absolutely. And for younger people that are part of our audience that are thinking about getting into a career in brand marketing, what are some of the main takeaways or learnings that you can point to from your time at Unilever, which is such a well-established, renowned, you know, global house of brands? Like, what did you take away from that that really positioned you well to put you along the journey to where you are today?

I think first and foremost is, you know, being curious. You know, to be an effective marketer in today's world, you need to be curious because the landscape is constantly evolving.

Yeah.

So that'd be number one. Number one. Number two, just having an unbelievable passion for creativity to solve true consumer and customer problems. I really believe as a marketer, that's our number one job to do, is to really use creativity to solve problems for consumers and customers that ultimately drive business growth for our business overall. And then just have an immense passion for Consumer insights and understanding. Always trying to understand consumers as people. What is the insight driving their behavior that you can ultimately develop a creative solution against? And just show up in their lives where you truly add value. What would consumers miss if your brand didn't exist and how do you bring relevance to them every day?

Absolutely. And you and I have almost the same timeline of going to the professional world and when I tell my kids that when I first started working, the internet was just becoming a thing. Um, and it wasn't until maybe 10 years into my career, and it looks like yours, by the time you left Unilever, the iPhone was invented, right? And here we are in 2022, it's a completely different world. Given all that, how has the role of managing and building a brand changed over time and over the course of your career? What are some of the shifts you've had to make to be a more effective marketer?

Well, one, I think the fragmentation of media has evolved so much over the last 20 years, really, you know, from a model where you used to be able to reach your audience, you know, with select media channels.

Yeah.

The right content in the right media channels. But that media now is fragmented, you know, and it's moved from broadcast age to now more social digital media where The Metas of the world, the Googles of the world have aggregated the audiences through their platform and you need to reach that audience through their platforms in a fit-for-format way, the right message at the right time with the right context. And now what we're seeing with the pandemic has really accelerated this direct-to-consumer trend that was already happening, right?

Yeah.

And now with the pandemic, with more people in home using the home as the hub, you know, the direct-to-consumer is going to be the next, you know, big forefront of—

Especially in your category, right? Because that was a lagging category, ordering in beer, wine, spirits, you know, obviously didn't take off as quickly as some other, you know, categories in the food and beverage space.

Yeah, definitely. Now you're going to have to build, you know, that community, that one-to-one relationship with everyone going forward and provide true utility for them to be able to—

That's right.

—use them in a relevant and meaningful way.

Yeah. And as part of that, obviously with all the changes with Apple and your ability to target consumers in a D2C world, how important is first-party data and what are some of the challenges given that you're an alcohol brand in collecting first-party data?

Yeah, it's incredibly important. Obviously, we do it respecting all the guidelines and legal restrictions. Yeah. And then one thing we're also doing at AB InBev is building our own suite of world-class digital products. So, if you think of brands like Zay Delivery in Brazil, and brands that we're building in Tadaa in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, specifically in Latin America, we're building that direct-to-consumer consumer e-commerce business on a one-to-one level with our consumers. So, it's an unbelievable way for us to reach our audience in a meaningful way. So, it's building our own suite of digital products, but then an example like Budweiser, for example, we have our biggest ever global campaign with the World Cup coming up.

Yeah, we're going to get into that.

One element is limited edition packaging with QR codes that people can scan, buy, scan, and have the chance to win amazing tickets to the FIFA World Cup and other instant prizes. And then using that relationship, then be able to communicate to them throughout the tournament, letting them know when different watch parties are happening, different promotional events, so on and so forth. So it's very important.

Yeah, and you kind of answered the question I was gonna ask before I asked it, which is usually a sign of a great marketer. But, you know, If I were, if I had your job and I was day one, you know, here you are sitting, you know, really behind the controls of an iconic American brand, which is what Budweiser is. And I look at it like Nike or Cadillac or some of these other brands that have been around for so long. And, you know, obviously the rub when, when you're behind an iconic American brand is you have this sort of tension between respecting the legacy brand equity pillars, um, which a brand like Budweiser is built on, but also being able to progress and contemporize the brand for, you know, a new generation of beer drinkers. You know, how do you deal with that tension there in terms of— because I know some of the things you're doing around the World Cup is super progressive. You just gave an example of a tactic, but do you often— I don't want to say struggle, but contend with making sure that you don't lose the heritage and history of the brand and what made it so special at the same time?

Yeah, well, definitely. And we, we, we're, we want to lean into the values of what made Budweiser so special in the US.

Right.

And now the most valuable alcohol brand around the world. And the values are really true everywhere that you go. Like, it's around ambition, it's around optimism. And we want to connect with our fans and our drinkers around the world that have those same values. The people that have the ambition to go for it in life, you know, that, you know, despite the naysayers and the obstacles that sit in your way, way to have that drive to really go for it in life the way that Budweiser's founder's story is amazing of two immigrants from Germany came to Missouri, had a dream of creating and bringing the lager beer to the Americans and ultimately founded Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser and grew it, as I said, to what it is today.

Wow.

So we stay true to the values of the brand. We're completely uncompromising on our quality. In terms of delivering that crisp, clean taste of refreshment to— no matter where we brew Budweiser, our quality standards are unheralded. So, you know, that's the balance, you know, stay true to the values of the brand, stay true to our quality standards, and then show up, you know, in a relevant way in the different countries where our audience— [SPEAKING CHINESE] interacts with our brand in a meaningful way.

Yeah. And speaking of balance, a lot of marketers also have to face this balance between upper funnel and lower funnel, right? Brand building and performance marketing. I saw a couple weeks ago that you guys were named the world's most effective marketer behind the Global Effie Index, which is an amazing award. I spent 20 years in the advertising industry before getting into software. I know how important— that is, and what an accolade it is on behalf of your team. How do you become an effective brand in your advertising and marketing when you are spending money on above the line that's maybe slightly less measurable? How are you able to connect that into a measurement plan that allows you to be confident in your spend in this market?

Yeah, well, we take a full funnel approach to everything now. So it's not an or, it's an and.

Sure.

You need to still build the brand affinity community and top-of-mind awareness for that mental availability for consumers at the top of the funnel. But then you need to use data and you need to use the community that you've built to drive conversion at the bottom of the funnel. We're putting as much effort into developing creative solutions at the bottom of the funnel than we are at the top of the funnel as well. For us, it's an and, it's not an or.

Yeah.

As you mentioned, we We use all the modern marketing mix models to evaluate our effectiveness and measurement. It's been amazing for us as we set out on a journey to become the world's most effective creative marketer, and we achieved that in 2022. It was really about— we got recognized by Cannes Lion as Market of the Year this year.

Yeah.

WARC has us as is number 1 in creative and creative effectiveness. And as you mentioned, the Global Effie Index just recognized us as the most effective marketer in the world. So it's an amazing accomplishment, but we're not satisfied with that yet. We want to stay at the top of that mountain, but now evolve with digital integration in the bottom of the funnel and continue to focus on building that brand love at the top of the funnel and driving conversion and all at the same time.

Yeah, and I would imagine a big part of also being effective is not just focusing on the consumer, but also the trade side, whether it's off-premise or on-premise, you know, with COVID hopefully winding down, we've heard that before, but assuming it does, obviously, your on-premise business is probably, you have great comps from the last couple years as people are filling bars and nightclubs, et cetera. How important is the on-premise and trade marketing in terms of being effective? And how do you split your time as somebody who's staying on top of the brand on a global basis?

Yeah, it's critically important, as you mentioned. And we take an omnichannel approach as we develop our creative solutions for whatever it may be. If it's a campaign like the Budweiser FIFA World Cup, or if it's an equity problem we're trying to solve, we really take a full funnel and omnichannel approach to it. So being able to activate at retail, whether it's the supermarkets, the, you know, the big traditional retailers, and then on-premise, all our restaurants, bars, these are where people come together to enjoy our products.

Yeah.

And that's really the role of our category, is to create a future with more cheers and to dream big to do that. So this is where people are coming together. Together every day to enjoy each other's company, to enjoy our products. So it's a critical channel for us to be able to deliver against our role in the category.

Absolutely. I'm sure you, I mean, like so many businesses, you had this kind of slingshot effect where you're focused on your business and then, oh no, there's no more on-premise because all the premises are closed. So we need to focus on direct-to-consumer and the liquor stores. And now all of a sudden people are coming back in and you have to focus on that side. It's not easy to be a marketer trying to move this quickly when you have such a large organization.

Yeah. Well, we learned a lot in the pandemic, to be honest, because the existing plans, as you said, got thrown out the window.

Yeah.

And it realized the power that we could do when we come together as a team and really focus on solving consumer problems. And then being able as a global company to test and learn solutions in one market that works, and then we're able to scale that globally around the world through the sharing of our best practices. So again, we're honored for the recognitions that we've received, but we remain humble as we're learning every day on how we can improve.

Absolutely. So you've mentioned a lot of times the World Cup, and obviously this World Cup is unique for many reasons. One, it's in November, normally happens over the summer. We are in a time of great global a lot of turmoil and socioeconomic issues impacting different markets at different scales across the world. So obviously an event like the World Cup, like the Olympics, is a great unifier. It brings people together. It also exposes some of the issues that we have. But there's no debating that there's going to be eyeballs around this, billions of eyeballs around the world. What goes into a decision to have AB and Budweiser participate at such a large level as part of the World Cup? Like, what are some of the discussions that you have to pull the trigger on such a large investment?

Yeah, I think, well, the first thing, you know, we've been a global partner of the FIFA World Cup for over 30 years on Budweiser. So, you know, we've proven that this partnership, as you said, can be a huge unifying moment for the world.

Yeah.

Like, it's the biggest sporting event in the world. And when we talk about building a community and being relevant to our audience, you want to be relevant in their passion points, and international football and the World Cup is one of the biggest passion points for a global brand to be able to activate. So, you know, that's one big reason, and to be honest, we're super excited this year because now it's going to be our biggest ever global campaign that we've ever launched on Budweiser with a few FIFA World Cup, the world's yours to take. I know we'll get into it some more.

Yeah, we'll do it right now.

Over 70 countries, over 1.2 million POCs around the world. We've got a fully integrated, as we've talked about, full funnel omnichannel approach on how we're bringing the campaign to life.

When you activate in 70 markets, obviously you need a through line, which is essentially the brand equity pillars and some of the things that you talked about. In terms of the heritage of brand, but then you have to translate it on a local level. Talk about that process, because I can't imagine the complexities involved in that, where you don't want to have the wrong message in the wrong market to alienate a huge market of consumers. I imagine you trust your agency partners, but is there sort of a process you have in these global executions?

Sure, yeah. Well, this year's campaign is "The World is Yours to Take, and it features some of the top footballers in the world. We've got Lionel Messi, we've got Neymar Jr., we've got Raheem Sterling. We've got the cross-section of music. We've got Lil Baby, who's remixed the iconic Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World track.

Very cool.

As the official soundtrack for the FIFA World Cup. So, you know, we— the whole idea behind the campaign is, you know, Over the last 2 years, a lot of people's ambitions, dreams have kind of been put on hold. And we're using, you know, our players, you know, in the metaphor of the players' tunnel, you'll see in the main film, they're in the players' tunnel about to step out onto greatness. And by telling their story of how they've overcome obstacles and defied the naysayers, we want to inspire everybody this FIFA World Cup to really step up and go for it, reach for whatever your greatness is in life, go for it. So, so that's a universal message we feel that can really land globally during this FIFA World Cup.

Sure.

And then we're also partnering with a lot of our local markets. We're actually bringing over 100 creators and influencers from around the world to Doha to participate in an amazing, you know, BudX Doha experience over the tournament. And they're going to tell their side tunnel. You know, what's, what's been their, their story of how they've, they've overcome obstacles to, to really, you know, go forward and believe in themselves, uh, to achieve great things in life. So, and that's where the local flavor can come in on, on the local creators and influencers telling, telling the world kind of their side, Stunna, to, to really inspire people to go for it.

Yeah. And I mean, that's amazing. And I think that's really emblematic of how a lot of brands are shifting from a linear broadcast model, although I know that you still get a lot of ROI from large-scale national TV spots, but being able to localize and create content from these creators, I would imagine, is something that allows you to go across the funnel and also really talk to those audiences in a unique way. How are you looking at the creator economy more broadly in terms of your forward-looking strategy?

I think it's a great point. I think, you know, you think about one of the things that has accelerated over the last couple years is the development of this creator economy where, you know, influencers, creators have created their audience at a one-to-one level and now they're monetizing it through launching their own products. You know, you look at the success of a MrBeast.

Crazy.

It's unbelievable what he did.

100,000 people showing up to buy his burgers.

I know. It's unreal. So, there's a lot that we need to learn from that as big brands. Like, if we're not, back to my point, if we're not building our community, they're going to get there, they're going to go elsewhere. We need to provide utility and value through content, through offers, whatever it may be to really keep that community engaged. But we also, beyond the big sponsorships like the Messis and Neymars and the creators that we have, what we need to find, what are those next generation of creators and influencers in this creator economy that we as a brand can help them. How do we help remove barriers to them?

Yeah.

Whether it be visibility. We have huge reach as a brand. We have huge access to talent from a mentorship perspective. How do we as a brand then find that next generation and work with them as well as the same level that we're doing with the big tier 1 celebrities? Celebrities and athletes as well.

Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. A friend of mine is starting a snacks business, a startup, and she said, if I were to bring on a partner, you know, 'cause she's super into the marketing side of things, who should I bring on to give equity to? And I said, it should be a celebrity or an influencer because they have the built-in audience and distribution. And over time, if you have to pay for that distribution, it's gonna cut into, you know, your cost of goods sold. It's gonna cut into your margins. Where if you have somebody like, you talk about a MrBeast, she won't be able to get somebody that big, but anybody that has a built-in audience, I mean, that is a, in a lot of ways, the future of how the new brands they're being built.

I couldn't agree more.

Yeah. So, and in that regard, so Lil Baby isn't exactly, you know, he's a creator in, you know, the more mainstream sense. And, you know, I found it really interesting that you're partnering with him to basically create, as you guys put it, the official anthem of the World Cup. So are you kind of, you're co-releasing a song with him? How does that work? Because that's a new model in the music industry that wasn't around 5 to 10 years ago.

Yeah, no, definitely. We released the song together with Lil Baby as a remix of the Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

Yeah.

It's available on all his DSP platforms from Spotify to Apple Playlist, all the major players. And we partnered with FIFA to make it an official soundtrack for the FIFA World Cup as well. And then back to the comment of bringing 100 creators together in Qatar for a big BudX influencer weekend. Lil Baby will be performing on his birthday in Doha.

Wow.

With creators. And we're gonna actually recreate the original Tears for Fears music video in Doha at the World Cup with the 100 creators. And ironically enough, if you Google the original original video, they were actually driving dune buggies in the desert. There was a guy drinking a Budweiser. So there's a lot of irony coming to play, and we're excited to partner with him, with FIFA, with all the creators. The song's already been released, but now we're going to launch the official music video in Doha together during the World Cup.

That's amazing. It's not lost on me, to my comment earlier, where that kind of tension between the history and nostalgia of the brand with sort of forward-looking, that you're tapping into Tears for Fears. Tapping into nostalgia. Nostalgia is huge. Britney Spears just came out with, you know, remix of Elton John songs. We're seeing it all the time in music because that is unifying as well because you're bringing people who remember that song from the old days like me and then the new generation that likes the artist and they're like, oh, I love this song. Many of them don't even know it was— it's a remix, the younger consumers, but that's totally cool.

Yeah. There's two huge trends in music. You just mentioned it. The nostalgia is one. Actually artists covering old tracks from back in the day the new audience hasn't heard before. So it's, you see it all the time happening.

Yep. Diddy was actually the person that I think first came to market with that in the '90s. And now obviously it's become way more mainstream, but we're gonna shift gears.

Listening to, sorry.

Go on, please.

No, I was just listening to a Jack Harlow podcast and he talked about, you know, he, he sampled, you know, Fergie's, uh, song, uh, that just went crazy. And hearing him talk about how he went through the creative process to sample that, and it became, you know, what it is today with, with his career. So absolutely another example.

Spot on. So we're going to shift gears a little bit to the, the category you're in, in general, um, and some of the big trends that you're seeing, uh, one of which is non-alcoholic beverages, uh, that's obviously had a big rise part of which I believe is part and parcel with the rise of cannabis use and cannabis legalization, at least in the US. But I'd love to hear your thoughts in terms of the non-alcoholic beer market, the growth there, and some— maybe that and some other emerging categories you're looking to play in as an extension of the Budweiser brand.

Well, you said it: health and wellness is an unstoppable trend. It's growing everywhere around the world, and so we're always looking as AB InBev to innovate and deliver solutions for consumers' needs as they evolve. Specific to Budweiser, you know, part of health and wellness is moderation.

Yeah.

People are looking for the same great taste as the Budweiser, but without the alcohol. So, we've been, you know, proud to launch Budweiser Zero in a number of markets around the world. It's in the US, it's in Canada, India, Europe, you know, expanded. We just launched into Brazil. It's doing very well, especially with a younger, at the legal drinking age audience, who want this, you know, the same social benefit from gathering with your friends at different occasions, but they don't want the alcohol.

Right.

So we're offering Budweiser Zero, and to be honest, the FIFA World Cup is a great opportunity. Opportunity for us that we're going to be expanding our presence, not only physically on the ground in, in Doha where Budweiser Zero will be made available, but also expanding it into other countries using the FIFA World Cup because there's occasions based off time zones where you're not going to be able to drink a, a regular Budweiser, but you can still have the great benefit of the occasion and the consumer tastes Budweiser without the alcohol.

How about some of the macroeconomic conditions? You know, obviously, we're seeing rising costs of commodities, you know, the consumers facing pressure. How do the macro conditions in a local market impact your strategy and how you step on the gas, either through your retail channels or through your spend?

Yeah, well, we have, obviously everyone's facing crazy macroeconomic inflation across the board. So, you know, we're very clear work closely with all of our local markets to make sure that we're delivering solutions against that. So I think the first and foremost thing is you just need to continue to be relevant to the consumer and offer them the right product at the right time in the right format and ensure that you're doing that in the most effective way possible. And that's why we pride ourselves so much on creative effectiveness, because in challenging economic times, you know, you can prove the return on investment on what you're doing is working. You can scale that to other countries, to other zones, and ultimately ensure you're delivering the right product at the right time.

Absolutely. That's what it's about. So, and to wrap things up, I mean, heading past the World Cup, although I'm sure you're not looking past it right now, it's probably glaring you right in the face given it's next month. But as we head into 2023, any other big innovations or initiatives on the horizon for Budweiser that we should know about or just things that you're really looking keenly at?

I think we're obviously, you know, football is a huge passion point for the brand. So post-World Cup, we're going to continue to activate, you know, our football community.

Yeah.

You know, we have a great partnership with the English Premier League. Globally. So we're going to continue to really focus on that conversion side of things around the football occasion post-World Cup with our Premier League partnership. You know, we talked a lot about inspiring, you know, that next generation of creators to really step up and go for it. So we want to continue, you know, with landing that creative idea idea for Budweiser globally around the world. Like, our new global campaign is Yours to Take. You know, we launched the first equity campaign with Tomorrow's Yours to Take in Q1 of this year with a great partnership with Anderson.Paak and 7 other creators from around the world. We're carrying that through with the World Cup, with the world is yours to take, and we're just going to continue really to both not only inspire but also enable. How do we do How do we walk the talk and actually help remove barriers for our audience to ultimately step up and go for it and chase their passions in life? Because that's what Budweiser is about. It's about ambition. It's about optimism and really inspiring people to go for it in life no matter what are the obstacles that you're facing.

Yep. And from where you sit, it's really your job to kind of lead that charge for the brand, be the steward of the brand, make sure you're protecting it. Amidst all these tactics and global deployment. And that's sort of, I think it's no easy feat. So I admire you for doing it and congrats on all your success, especially with the Effectiveness Awards, which I think are really important for marketers and what many marketers lose sight of in this day and age. But now there's tremendous cost pressures to make sure that, as you put it earlier, there's business results to spend. So to wrap things up here, we covered a lot of ground. Obviously you're juggling a lot of things. What are some of the things that slow down Todd Allen personally that allow you to take a step away from the world of beer and Budweiser to kind of get a little bit of a refreshment in a mental state for you?

Well, first of all, I have two young children. I have a 4-year-old daughter Charlotte and a 2-year-old boy Jackson.

Oh, I have a daughter Charlotte too. So we're— there you go. Sympathica.

But trying to spend as much time with them recharges my my batteries the most. And then we love to ski in the winter as a family. Charlotte started at 2, and I got Jack up for the first time last winter. So excited to get out on the hills with them this winter and, you know, just enjoy each other's company.

Yeah.

Beautiful wife as well.

Well, that's amazing. Well, I want to thank you for joining, Todd. It's not every day I get to talk to the head of such an iconic global brand, and it's been a joy for me, and I know it's gonna be a joy for audience. So, uh, on behalf of Suzy and the Adweek team, thanks again for Todd for joining us. Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the Speed of Culture podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Till next time, see you soon, everyone. Take care.

Hey!