WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) -- For the second consecutive year, Anheuser-Busch InBev will serve up a new brew to Super Bowl viewers.
The
beer giant will tout its just-out Budweiser Black Crown brand during
the Feb. 3 Super Bowl XLVII. The new beer is scheduled to be on sale
nationwide by Jan. 21.
Last year, A-B introduced another new brand, Bud Light Platinum, to the massive audience watching the Big Game.
"The
Super Bowl really is the ideal venue to launch something new," says
Budweiser Vice President Rob McCarthy, noting that Super Bowl viewers,
expected to surpass 110 million, are engaged with the ads as they watch
the game live.
Black Crown's recipe was picked from among six
limited-edition beers that were created by Budweiser brewmasters earlier
this year. Based on positive consumer feedback, A-B decided to take
this formula national.
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The
new beer, a golden amber lager, is "a little bit darker and a little
bit more flavorful" than the traditional Budweiser lager, says McCarthy.
With 6% alcohol by volume, Black Crown also has more alcohol
content than traditional Budweiser's 5%. And the premium brew will be
about 15% more expensive, McCarthy says.
A-B hopes to cater to variety-seeking Millennials with the new beer.
"This
brand will appeal to a broad range of beer drinkers, but especially to
21-to-34-year-old, trend-setting-type consumers," says McCarthy.
In
the Super Bowl ad, a brewmaster salutes a group of American beer
drinkers seated at a table and also toasts the Black Crown brand.
The
new brand may get more than one game ad. A-B shot two 30-second
commercials with the same theme, but executives still are deciding
whether to air one or two Black Crown ads in the game.
New brews,
such as Bud Light Platinum and Budweiser Light Lime-A-Rita, have helped
A-B reverse its U.S. sales decline of the last few years, says Eric
Shepard, executive editor for the newsletter Beer Market Insights.
Industry
leader A-B, as well as other beer makers, fell behind as spirit makers
offered consumers a wide range of new products, including vodka?s that
come in different flavors, he says.
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But
this year, the beer industry is showing a recovery. New flavors, as
well as an improving economy, helped to reverse the slide, says Shepard.
As
for the Super Bowl, A-B is the game's exclusive beer advertiser and
will be a top advertiser in the game. The company still is determining
the total ad time it will have in the game and the final lineup of other
brands that it will promote.