According to Western reports, DDB will create a singular, global campaign for Budweiser to both strengthen its presence in markets where it is already available and usher the brand into new markets.
Reportedly targeted will be emerging markets as well as areas where Budweiser performs well, such as in China. InBev will look to Coca-Cola’s business model to achieve its goal, according to Frank Abenante, Anheuser-Busch InBev's vice-president of global brands and innovation.
Reports add that the campaign may be localised in some markets, and the role of local agencies also working with Budweiser are not expected to be affected.
In January, Anheuser-Busch InBev China appointed TBWA to handle the creative duties for three of its beer brands in the mainland market, following a pitch that also included incumbent JWT and Ogilvy. The agency was appointed to develop through-the-line advertising and activation projects for Red Rock, KK and Double Deer, sharing InBev’s China portfolio with JWT, which will continue to service the Sedrin beer brand, and DDB, which handles the national Budweiser brand.
The alliance with TBWA followed last year’s $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by InBev, and the appointment of Rex Wong, who was formerly in charge of marketing at Anheuser-Busch China, as the company’s marketing director in the mainland.
DDB, which has worked with Budweiser in the US for more than a decade, could not comment on the brewer’s plans for Asia-Pacific.