Let Budweiser China win the Titanium Lion Award, a fearless attempt. Budweiser | China | Try

On June 24, 2023, at the Cannes International Creative Festival, known as the "Oscars in the Advertising Industry," Budweiser China's "Corona Select Lime" project won the Titanium Lion Award. Advertisers, public relations companies, media agencies, well-known brands, and technology giants with advertising business from around the world witnessed this shining moment together.

"I was pleasantly surprised and fortunate." Today, Mr. Che Qi, the Chief Marketing Officer of Budweiser Asia Pacific, couldn't help but feel excited about the grand occasion. "Budweiser China has been valuing creativity for so many years, and being able to win the highest award this year is the greatest praise for our brand's perseverance and innovation."

Can fail, but cannot fail without trying

When it comes to Corona, everyone puts a piece of lime in a bottle to enjoy Corona's refreshing and exclusive sense of ceremony. In China, Corona has been using imported high-quality Tahiti lime to ensure the best traditional lime flavor.

In 2019, in response to the policy direction of the national rural revitalization strategy, Corona chose to cooperate with the Anyue County Government, research institutions, and lime growers in Sichuan Province. After more than 1000 days of effort, she used the most advanced technology to plant and select the best lime. This is the Budweiser China Green Lemon Rural Revitalization Project, which is also the inspiration for this award-winning work.

Corona's selection of lime

This cooperation model has achieved win-win outcomes for multiple parties. Budweiser has invested funds, technology, and equipment to transform farmland, supplemented by a professional team, which not only helps local villagers become wealthy scientifically and improve their income levels, but also provides consumers with higher quality lime fruits. It is particularly interesting that originally only 43% of Budweiser Huaxi Tang Drink channel distributors sold both Corona and purchased Lime. After this project, 100% of Huaxi Tang Drink channel distributors began to purchase Lime. Statistics show that the average income per mu of local farmers has increased to 217% as a result.

Che Qi candidly said, "As a company, such an attempt carries risks." He recalled a question asked by a judge during the Cannes live defense, 'Budweiser China emphasizes ROI so much. Have you ever thought that this project would fail?'? Why dare to do this? Che Qi firmly answered him, "When we first started this project, we had a learning attitude. Our company sells beer, not specialized in growing lime. However, if this project can bring value to society and solve the current problems, then we are willing to give it a try."

In fact, the corporate culture of Budweiser Asia Pacific is the same. If the team can manage the cost of failure well and gain many learning opportunities from failure, then they can accept failure. This is also one of the reasons why Cheqi has been working at Budweiser for nearly 20 years and is still full of passion and power.

Che Qi concluded that the reason for this award is that the project integrates creativity, commercial value, and social value, which also encourages Budweiser China to continue to replicate this model and continuously inject new forces to feed back local industries and rural development.

Business value+social value=sustainable development

"The Qingning project perfectly blends commercial value with my inner love. For CMO, love without commercial value cannot last. When love can be combined with commercial value, it is really beautiful!" From Che Qi's words, I can feel that the award of the Corona Qingning project has given him and his team great encouragement.

Since entering the Chinese market in 1995, Budweiser has occupied an absolute dominant position in the high-end beer market with its excellent quality. For many years, Budweiser China has always adhered to its original intention, bravely shouldered social responsibility, and used practical actions to support the real economy and boost consumer confidence. In Budweiser China, projects like Qingning, which are full of social responsibility, are not uncommon. For example, the "Weiguang Action" launched in April this year is also a perfect combination of sustainable and commercial values in Budweiser China, and reflects the high degree of unity between Budweiser China's business goals and public welfare goals.

When talking about the original intention of the "Weiguang Action", Che Qi said, "After the epidemic, the consumption behavior of the affluent class will not change. However, for high-end consumers, when facing future uncertainty, they will be more cautious in tasting expensive foreign wine and turning to high-end beer. This change is a very good opportunity for Budweiser China. In addition, there are also mid-range consumers whose lives will be more uncertain, and they may obtain happiness in life by consuming high-end beer. Therefore, currently, Budweiser China has opportunities worth seizing among people of different income levels."

The "Weiguang Action" has a high investment in the market, not only through online advertising, but also in conjunction with offline store activities. At the same time, it attracts people to come and experience through KOL and KOC dissemination. This form not only reignites smoke and fire, but also makes Budweiser's high-energy brand image more deeply ingrained in people's hearts, which is largely different from friendly brands. From the "Weiguang Action", it can be seen that Budweiser China has made targeted adjustments to its marketing focus in China. It used to be seeking celebrity endorsements, conducting TV commercials, and media coverage, but now Budweiser China pays more attention to product experience, such as the Corona Sunset Global Music Carnival and the international electronic music feast "Creamfields". Che Qi said, "We have replaced the marketing methods that used to only rely on celebrity traffic through these activities, bringing consumers the most authentic experience and happiness. In addition, we are more concerned about product innovation. The industrial breweries that used to have the lowest minimum order quantity have constrained many innovative possibilities in product research and development. Now, Budweiser China's breweries allow us to develop different flavors and limited quantities of beer, creating more diverse consumption scenarios for consumers. Of course, we are also seeking cross-border cooperation with other brands, hoping to integrate the Budweiser brand into consumers' lives through this marketing strategy."

Chengdu Cream Field Music Festival

Make friends with consumers

Not only the adjustment of marketing priorities, but also the talent training standards of the Cheqi team have been adjusted in recent years. He said, "Previously, the hiring mindset of fast-moving consumer goods companies was to recruit people from prestigious schools and large companies. Now, I believe that the entire team cannot be limited to this group of people, but must also have a group of people who love consumers and life, that is, those who are very passionate about researching 'people'. Because life is fragmented now, it is difficult to grasp creativity. Only when these three points reach a perfect balance can these people in our beer industry be very happy to achieve themselves and the company."

For many years, Cheqi has actively invested in employee training and capacity building, establishing multiple training modules in the fields of growth strategy, leadership, business knowledge, effective communication, and digital marketing. For example, the quarterly "beer talk" is very popular among the team. Cheqi invites fashion magazine editors, fashion designers, or current internet celebrities to teach the team, allowing some people who are truly on the front line, already very "hot", and on different tracks to tell everyone what is happening in the market, in order to enhance the team's empathy and creativity.

Budweiser Asia Pacific's ability to become a leader in high-quality growth in the beverage industry is closely related to its strategy of being a brand that breathes with consumers. Che Qi believes that it is very difficult to conquer the hearts of consumers. In order for a brand to deeply penetrate people's hearts, it is necessary to integrate the product into the consumer's life scene. For example, choosing Budweiser beer when going to a KTV with friends, Harbin beer when having a late night snack on the street, Fujia beer for a weekend picnic, and a Corona for a beach vacation are all consumer scenarios created based on market research that are suitable for the product.

Mr. Che Qi, Chief Marketing Officer of Budweiser Asia Pacific

Che Qi believes that "in this fragmented era, the traditional concept of brand loyalty no longer exists, and every brand should strive to establish brand loyalty based on 'scenarios'. Instead of trying to make a beer the first choice for every drinking occasion, it is better to adopt a more refined approach by highly segmenting consumers' drinking needs and scenarios. In the beer race, consumers always feel that Budweiser Asia Pacific has a beer that is particularly suitable for them in different drinking scenarios."