Social Media 1

Running head: ANHEUSER BUSCH

Social Media Monitoring Report

Emily Roche & Jeremy Watruba

Georgia Southern University

February 10, 2010

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Purpose

Anheuser-Busch is one of the leading beer producers in the world with 49.2 percent of all
beer sales in the U.S. coming from them. They have12 breweries in the U.S. and the two best-
selling beers in the world, Budweiser and Bud light. The company has gone through some
changes, though, since its creation, “Eberhard Anheuser acquired the Bavarian brewery in 1860
and renamed it E. Anheuser & Co. In 1864, his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, joined the company
that would later become Anheuser-Busch.” http://www.anheuser-busch.com/History.html. Since
then, Anheuser-Busch has been a consistent leader in the mass production of beer, aluminum
cans, new products, and popular super-bowl commercials. They also sponsor several
organizations and are one of the leading companies in aluminum recycling.  

In December 2006, Anheuser-Busch declared a new CEO to better manage their multi-
billion dollar company after hearing of Miller’s new, more aggressive campaigning against A-B
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391808/index.htm
August Busch IV currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Anheuser-
Busch InBev and has been working there for nearly 20 years. 

There are several reasons to follow Anheuser-Busch and their quest for continual better-
beer making. But the most relevant hits that social media have shown about their current “buzz”
are their 2010 super-bowl commercials and their recent ownership shift to a Belgian company,
InBev. There are seemingly endless opinions of each of these topics on various social media.
Their super-bowl commercials have created laughs among many, as well as disappointment and
even despair among others. Anheuser-Busch’s shift to Belgian ownership has struck up virtual
conversations ever since its occurrence in October 2009. This report seeks to explore various
viewpoints from social media gathered from January 15 to February 9, 2010.

Methodology

In order to conduct the research on Anheuser Busch a variety of social media networks
were used. Twitter was a helpful tool because many people were tweeting on what they thought
of the super bowl. Anheuser-Busch is always a heavy weight when it comes to advertising in the
super bowl and this social network can be used as a tool for those working for Anheuser Busch
to get feedback on what people thought of their commercials. Facebook was another social
media network that was put to use. Groups were formed on facebook that showed either support
for the company or people who were worried about the company’s recent development. These
groups are strictly for fun and the company does not have anything to do with them. On the other
hand Anheuser Busch does have a facebook page in which they tried to use to their advantage.
The company was using the social network for fans to vote on several different commercials that
they would like to view during the superbowl. The social networking site, Myspace, was little
help to the monitoring. The site had pages that belonged to Anheuser Busch for people to post
their opinions on the products and advertisements. Blogs searches as Technorati, IceRocket, and
google blog search were valuable tools in monitoring. Each of these sites helped find blogs that
were relevant to what one was looking for.
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The time frames of Tweets were from February 8, 2010 and February 9, 2010. The
facebook and myspace pages were all up to date as of February 9, 2010. The blogs on Anheuser
Busch varied in the time frame. The blogs found on IceRocket were all posted on February 9,
2010. The posts that were found on Technorati were posted in the time frame of February 5,
2010 until February 9, 2010. Google search blog.com the nuggets that were found from this site
date back from February 7, 2010 until February 9, 2010. All of the information that was found
during the social monitoring time was after the super bowl which is an important time for the
company Anheuser Busch because they are known for their popular advertising. The creditability
of the sources that were used can be determined only by how the reader agrees or disagrees with
what the person is expressing. All the sites that were used are ones for people to be able to say
their opinion on a matter. This is all creditable because when a company is monitoring the
consumer’s desires they need to hear the consumer’s opinion in order to make the product one
that people will continue to invest in.

Results

Aforementioned, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Icerocket, and Technorati were used to

compile opinions about Anheuser-Busch pertaining to super-bowl commercials and ownership
change of the company. Every form of social media included various people from around the
world explaining their views and opinions of the current events. Many Twitter subscribers were
followers of both of these topics. Most of the nuggets we received from Twitter on the subject of
the 2010 Bud-Light and Budweiser super-bowl commercials were thrilled with the outcome. One
person claimed “Anheuser-Busch InBev Claims Three of Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials - St.
Louis News - Daily RFT.” Another person declared, “Anheuser-Busch was my favorite TV ad
during the big game!” Not all were so enthusiastic about the outcome of this year’s commercials.
A less pleased Twitter subscriber had this to say, “King of Ads: Anheuser-Busch falls from
perch: The advertising world is taking notice of a low-budget Super Bowl.” These results show
that most people enjoyed Anheuser-Busch’s commercials but others were concerned with the
quality and supposed low budget of the beer promotion. 

Because of the buzz created by the super-bowl, it was much more difficult to find hits on
Twitter about the recent change of ownership. Also there are proposed plans of the company
moving its century-old brewery from St. Louis to New York. Both of these recent occurrences
created more hits on Twitter than the new Belgian ownership shift. 

Facebook proved to be an abundant source of buzz about the company’s ownership

change. There are several fan groups expressing a range of opinions about the shift. One group is
titled “RIP Anheuser-Busch” with 753 group members discussing how the company was recently
from the traditional American company that it was known for, to a company bought by the
Belgians for over $2 billion. There are many outraged beer drinkers that posted comments about
the change saying that it wasn’t right to alter the origin of the greatest American Lager,
Budweiser. There are 500 additional groups with Anheuser-Busch’s ownership change being
talked about on Facebook. Posts range anywhere from people confessing their undying support
for the company to people who are boycotting them completely for their recent sell out. 
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MySpace was a bit more difficult to track because it seems that hardly anyone uses it
anymore. Anheuser-Busch actually has a MySpace account where they mostly talk about their
sell out to InBev. The MySpace results supported no concrete finding that seemed to foster an
opinion other than that of the company. 

The results provided by Icerocket were oriented more toward the super-bowl ads. Many
of the data collected proved that many football fans were, in fact, not impressed with the 2010
Bud Light lineup. One upset fan had this to say, “Ok, I get it. Anheuser Busch has become the
marquee sponsor of the Super Bowl and has given us many decent laughs in the past but this year
it was damn-near pathetic to see them throw seven steaming piles of “advertisements” at the wall
and have NONE of them stick. No, I’m not impressed by your house of beer, your ability to sing
like T-Pain or you and your friends knowledge of impossible architecture. Do me a favor. Go
back to the drawing board and stay there until next February.” Other posts, in general, followed
suit. Another post on Icerocket claimed that Anheuser-Busch’s ads have become “watered
down” just like their new 55 calorie Bud Select beer. 

Most of the posts on Technorati danced to an entirely different beat than Icerocket.
Individuals on this blog typically had good things to say about the advertisements. One post in
particular had nothing but praise for the company’s efforts, “Anheuser-Busch is the biggest
Super Bowl advertiser this year, occupying five minutes of air time. It’s also wisely using
Facebook in a big way by encouraging fans to vote for the commercial they most want to see
during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The efforts are paying off handsomely, as the brand has the
highest positive sentiment score according to Alterian SM2 when compared against other
advertisers.” This proved to be a positive sign for Anheuser-Busch because it shows that there
are several viewers who did enjoy their 2010 ads. But again, like some of the other social media,
there wasn’t too much concern with the company’s ownership change.

Conclusion

After researching the fortune 500 company, Anheuser Busch, on different social media
networks it is noticeable that the company is going through a time of change. The results of this
change are not satisfying customers. People are not happy about the new ownership along with
some buzz about a new move to New York City. The super bowl has always been the company’s
time to shine and it seems this year they have fallen a little short. The most important thing
Anheuser Busch can do now is try to listen to the consumer by social monitoring. Some people
do not enjoy changes and they may be taking on too many changes at one time. A commercial
during the super bowl could have addressed these changes and made sure consumer knows it is
still the same traditional beer, but just in new place. By addressing it that way one will know the
product is the same and the producer does care about what they think about the change. People
using social media networks are tweeting, blogging, and facebooking because they want to be
heard and it is a great new way that companies could help themselves if they would just listen.
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Data Table

Source Source Credibility Date/Time Comments

www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Claiming top ten of

2010 super bowl
commercials

www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Memorable

2010 commercial in supe
bowl
www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Move to New York
2010

Blogsearch.google.com Credible February 9, Tour of the factory

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/lager- 2010
heads/anheuser-busch/2010/02/take-a-virtual-tour-of-
anheuser-busch

Ice Rocket blog Credible February 9, Did not like all the
http://sbubasement.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/super- 2010 ads on super bowl
bowl-xliv-the-ads/

Ice Rocket blog Credible February 9, Bud light select ad

http://jesslyn8706.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/super- 2010 was “watered down
bowl-ads-2010-the-good-the-bad-and-the-not-so- like the beer
controversial/

www.myspace.com Credible February 9, Fan group

2010
www.facebook.com Credible February 9, Fan group
2010
www.facebook.com Credible February 9, RIP group because
2010 of new ownership
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Blogsearch.google.com Credible February 8, Best impression left

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/02/anh 2010 on viewers from
euser- super bowl
busch_inbev_claims_three_of_top_ten_super_bowl_
commercials.php

www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Most super bowl

2010 advertisements

www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Best commercial

2010 during super bowl

www.twitter.com Credible February 9, Low budget

2010 commercials and
people taking notice

www.facebook.com Credible February 9, 11 fan pages

2010

Technorati Credible February 9, Clydesdale a

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-asghar/super- 2010 favorable
bowl-ads-and-the-ma_b_445480.html commercial

Technorati Credible February 9, Plenty of

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-i-abrams/beer- 2010 commercials at the
and-sports_b_453290.html super bowl, but
wrong target
audience
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Technorati Credible February 4, Use of facebook to

http://mashable.com/2010/02/04/social-media-super- 2010 pick commercials fo
bowl/ super bowl.

Technorati Credible February 9, A heavy weight

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/341635-super- 2010 always in super bow
bowl-xliv-commercials-the-best-worst-and-weirdest- commercials
of-the-first-quarter

Blogsearch.google.com Credible February 7, Favorable

http://adland.tv/commercials/anheuser-busch- 2010 Clydesdale bull
budweiser-clydesdale-bull-2010-60 advertisement.

Technorati Credible February 10, Brewing beer and

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company- 2010 healthy beer
news/beer-and-bone-study-a-boon-for-
microbrews/19349810/

Technorati Credible February 9, Most viewed

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/most-viewed-super- 2010 commercial
bowl-ever-also-breaks-ad-records.html

Technorati Credible January 22, Burger king in time

http://gothamist.com/2010/01/22/burger_king_to_sell 2010 square now serving
_beer_in_times_s.php Anheuser Busch

Technorati Credible January 22, Florida Burger King

http://www.inquisitr.com/58592/whopper-bar-2/ 2010 adds Anheuser
Busch products to
menu
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Technorati Credible January 19, Anheuser Busch

http://www.gadling.com/2010/01/19/belgium- 2010 fires many Belgium
running-out-of-its-best-beer-after-brewery-blockade/ employers

Technorati Credible February 9, Best super bowl

http://www.asylum.com/2010/02/09/readers-pick- 2010 commercials this
best-super-bowl-ads-anheuser-busch-kia-e-trade- year.
doritos/

Technorati Credible February 9, Brewing becomes

http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2010/02/09/cheers- 2010 more environmenta
to-the-environment-purposeenergy-aims-to-make-
brewing-more-sustainable/

Technorati Credible January 11, Super bowl prices

http://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-ad- 2010 drop second time in
prices-drop-for-second-times-in-history-2010-1 history.

Blogsearch.google.com Credible January 25, Anheuser-Busch

http://blogs.suntimes.com/media/2010/01/anheuser- 2010 released a tentative
busch_unveils_2010sup.html line-up of its 2010
Super Bowl ads

Blogsearch.google.com Credible January 20, Anheuser-Busch tri

http://www.webcastr.com/videos/news/inbev-labor- 2010 s to go upscale
row-drags-belgian-shops-low-on-beer.html with Belgian beers 

Blogsearch.google.com Credible February 9, American company

http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/lager- 2010 sold itself
heads/uncategorized/2010/02/so-how-did-you-like- to Belgian brewer
those-super-bowl-ads-did-anheuser-busch-get-its- InBev 
money-worth/
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