(PCM) Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser have certainly had quite a busy summer this year with the success of the recent Made In America Festival’s in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles and now the company has just received the green light for creating a fantasy town in Colorado.
The company will paint the town of Crested Butte, Colorado blue for an upcoming ad campaign titled “Are You Up For Whatever” for Bud Light. Crested Butte will be turned into Whatever, USA.
While some residents in the town were opposed to the Budweiser takeover, others are incredibly excited to see what is in-store. The company claims that its’ #UpForWhatever weekend at Whatever, USA is going to be “off the charts”.
Crested Butte town officials were secretly debating the company’s original offer of $250,000 for the takeover, Budweiser sweetened the deal, doubling the amount of money to be sure all was secure.
The town officials accepted the second offer immediately, however did not let residents in on the news. The officials say the secrecy was for good reason, as it was a matter of safety and security for the town, as they did not want a bunch of people traveling to the area for the event which will take place from September 5th thru the 7th.
We were able to catch up with Budweiser’s marketing and brand director Tom Kraus at the Made In America Festival in Philadelphia, PA to chat about both Made In America, as well as, some of the company’s upcoming initiatives.
When asked how the company feels about the success of Made In America, Kraus tells us “It feels great. Obviously, this is our third year here in Philadelphia, so we have a nice kind of flow going and the line-up this year is amazing.”
When speaking out the expansion to L.A. this year, Kraus comments “The whole theory here is how you unite the east coast and west coast together here, so it is one giant festival held on each individual coast. It is a way to bring everyone together under the Budweiser Made In America theme on one weekend as we get ready to celebrate Labor Day”.
We were curious about some of the other endeavors that the company has going on for the rest of this year into early next year to which Kraus reveals “As we look at the rest of the year, we have a big holiday push as we get closer to Thanksgiving and then the New Year. Into the first quarter of next year we will be getting back into Major League Baseball and some of the sporting activities that we do and you will see a renewed focus for the company, Budweiser specifically, around food. Beer pairings for example Budweiser and burgers together will be something you will see us roll out during the first quarter of next year”.
It seems that both Anheuser-Busch and music go hand and hand to which Kraus comments “We have a long standing tradition with Budweiser being in music. A lot of heritage over the past hundred years as a brand, so it has been part of our DNA for many many years. As we look at today’s millennial consumer, certainly they are very into music and it’s a passion point for them and it is a place as a brand that we can connect very organically with them. It is a natural tie to Budweiser”.
Kraus goes on to tell us that there is truly never a dull moment in his daily schedule working with such a great company with great brands. He reveals that as soon as Made In America 2014 comes to a close they will already be back at work on bringing Made In America 2015 to life as it is a year long operation. Kraus praises the amazing team behind planning the events and their partners such as LiveNation, Rocnation, Penn Distributing in Philly saying “We really couldn’t do it without the partners we have”.
When asked about something that may be misconstrued about the company, Kraus responds “I think that sometimes we get viewed as big corporate America and it’s really not about that, it’s about the authenticity and true belief that we have great brands behind us. Budweiser has stood the test of time and is now a global brand and I think those are all benefits to the company and consumers”.
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