Despite Promoting Patriotism On The Internet, Budweiser Fails To Generate Fireworks With Its Fans

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When it comes to celebrating the July 4th holiday on social media, Budweiser displays the most U.S. patriotism of 24 beer, wine and liquor brands evaluated by the Crimson Hexagon consumer insights agency over the past five years. Despite that, the Belgian-owned beer company ranks at the bottom when it comes to positive pre-holiday engagement from the community.

In evaluating mentions of July 4th and Independence Day as well as the past year’s worth of American flag imagery across the web and eight top social media sites, Crimson Hexagon found that Budweiser consistently out-promoted its competitors, with a total 83,300 references, not including flag images. Notably, in 2016, Budweiser made international news by temporarily “renaming” itself as “America” on its packaging. However, its overall efforts seem to have turned off Internet followers: only 18% of social media commenters responded with positive or neutral remarks to the brand’s long-term pre-holiday patriotism. This compares with the biggest crowd-pleaser, Captain Morgan rum, which received an 87% positive response rate to a mere 813 mentions, not including flag imagery.

The massive volume of Budweiser’s patriotic posts proved enough to counteract the unfortunate reaction. Crimson Hexagon gave it the top patriotic power ranking by a large margin, beating its closest competitors Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), Blue Moon, Natural Light and the first craft brewery on the list, Sierra Nevada. These breweries all received much greater appreciation from followers, with Blue Moon (owned by MolsonCoors Brewing) generating a 76% percent positive or neutral reception; Coors and Sierra Nevada scoring almost the same; and PBR and Natural Light trailing a few points behind.

“ Patriotism, when it comes to alcohol brands, is a tricky question for American consumers. When looking at social conversations, volume of posts would indicate an affinity for American-made brands, such as Budweiser, PBR, and Coors. However, sentiment would suggest a preference for non-American brands like Captain Morgan, Crown Royal and Jose Cuervo. Overall power rankings, combining mentions and sentiment, place American brands on top - suggesting that American consumers prefer to celebrate Independence Day with American-made products," says Crimson Hexagon CMO Lou Jordano, referencing products that are made in America, rather than necessarily owned by American companies.

No other beer appears on the list until Busch, which shares Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) ownership with Budweiser. Busch comes in at #19 in the power rankings with a 53% positive or neutral reaction, followed by Sam Adams, part of Boston Beer Co., the second largest craft brewery in the country, at #21 in the power rankings with 46% positive or neutral responses.

Crimson Hexagon only included one winery in its analysis: Napa County, California’s, Barefoot, which came in at #23 out of 24 in the power rankings. Barefoot is in the middle of a five-year contract to sponsor Times Square’s official ball drop on New Year’s Eve.

According to Statista, 81% of Americans considered themselves “very” or “extremely” proud to be American, with response rates varying little between the generations. Last year, two-thirds of survey respondents said they planned to celebrate with a cookout, barbeque or picnic, suggesting that the vast majority of American adults would be celebrating in the presence of alcohol.

When it comes to celebrating the July 4th holiday on social media, Budweiser displays the most U.S. patriotism of 24 beer, wine and liquor brands evaluated by the Crimson Hexagon consumer insights agency over the past five years. Despite that, the Belgian-owned beer company ranks at the bottom when it comes to positive pre-holiday engagement from the community.

In evaluating mentions of July 4th and Independence Day as well as the past year’s worth of American flag imagery across the web and eight top social media sites, Crimson Hexagon found that Budweiser consistently out-promoted its competitors, with a total 83,300 references, not including flag images. Notably, in 2016, Budweiser made international news by temporarily “renaming” itself as “America” on its packaging. However, its overall efforts seem to have turned off Internet followers: only 18% of social media commenters responded with positive or neutral remarks to the brand’s long-term pre-holiday patriotism. This compares with the biggest crowd-pleaser, Captain Morgan rum, which received an 87% positive response rate to a mere 813 mentions, not including flag imagery.

The massive volume of Budweiser’s patriotic posts proved enough to counteract the unfortunate reaction. Crimson Hexagon gave it the top patriotic power ranking by a large margin, beating its closest competitors Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), Blue Moon, Natural Light and the first craft brewery on the list, Sierra Nevada. These breweries all received much greater appreciation from followers, with Blue Moon (owned by MolsonCoors Brewing) generating a 76% percent positive or neutral reception; Coors and Sierra Nevada scoring almost the same; and PBR and Natural Light trailing a few points behind.

“ Patriotism, when it comes to alcohol brands, is a tricky question for American consumers. When looking at social conversations, volume of posts would indicate an affinity for American-made brands, such as Budweiser, PBR, and Coors. However, sentiment would suggest a preference for non-American brands like Captain Morgan, Crown Royal and Jose Cuervo. Overall power rankings, combining mentions and sentiment, place American brands on top - suggesting that American consumers prefer to celebrate Independence Day with American-made products," says Crimson Hexagon CMO Lou Jordano, referencing products that are made in America, rather than necessarily owned by American companies.

No other beer appears on the list until Busch, which shares Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) ownership with Budweiser. Busch comes in at #19 in the power rankings with a 53% positive or neutral reaction, followed by Sam Adams, part of Boston Beer Co., the second largest craft brewery in the country, at #21 in the power rankings with 46% positive or neutral responses.

Crimson Hexagon only included one winery in its analysis: Napa County, California’s, Barefoot, which came in at #23 out of 24 in the power rankings. Barefoot is in the middle of a five-year contract to sponsor Times Square’s official ball drop on New Year’s Eve.

According to Statista, 81% of Americans considered themselves “very” or “extremely” proud to be American, with response rates varying little between the generations. Last year, two-thirds of survey respondents said they planned to celebrate with a cookout, barbeque or picnic, suggesting that the vast majority of American adults would be celebrating in the presence of alcohol.

By Tara Nurin 
July 4, 2018
Source: Forbes.com