Channel & Pricing Strategy

Channel and Pricing Strategy

Katrina Burby, Ryan Dawson, Richard Harvey, Varsha Vasconcelos

MKT/571

May 13, 2013

Professor Dietrich

Channel and Pricing Strategy

Anheuser Busch (AB) has been experiencing constant decreases in profit growth. Although the United States accounts for a large share of business, external forces affect costs and decrease margins. To offset these forces, AB will refocus marketing efforts on global markets. With delivery of a new low-calories product looming near, AB is looking at Japan and Latin America as introductory locations. Latin America specifically offers growth potential for both acquired local brands and domestic beers imported from the United States. The following plan contains pricing strategies and market entry strategies to introduce this new product in Latin America.

Justify International Market

A strong region well fitted for a new product launch is Central and South America, especially Brazil, the region’s largest beer market. Originally dominated by competitor SAB Miller, AB developed a strong plan to permeate the market, expanding market share through acquisition (InBev, 2010). According to the chart below, AB holds a 37% market share in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile (Business Monitor International, 2009).

Table 1.2 (2010)

Based on the data above, AB will have a challenging timeframe to enter Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Columbia’s beer industry for their new product launch. For this market, it would be best to partner with another manufacturer and distributor who have capabilities and logistics in place to reach out to the customers. One of the key players in this marketing scheme could come from the potential acquisition of Grupo Modelo. To ensure a successful product launch, the following four factors becomes very important.

Coverage

The new product gets the coverage it deserves. In Latin America, the beer drinkers are both men and women. A strong suggestion for AB to gear their...