There’s been a mini-furore on the decision to disallow Budweiser beer being available at the Fifa World Cup 2022 statdia. So we Dr Bhaskar Das a question for the November 22 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/
Q. If you were CMO of Budweiser, how would you react to the organisers banning sales of beer at the stadium, at the eleventh hour?
A. When it comes to FIFA World Cup Football, one can’t just look at only the marketing side of things. And this year’s Cup has its share of controversies and a plethora of opinions. I don’t want delve into that.
I must highlight that Budweiser has a relationship of over three decades with FIFA and just one incident can’t perhaps affect its popularity. Yes, if one talks about ROI of the investment, there can be their internal measurements and since I have no visibility on the same, I can’t comment on that.
Having said that, you must not forget that it is a controlled restriction at the venue and its immediate surroundings and not ban of Budweiser sales completely. And Budweiser’s non-alcoholic beer, Bud Zero, will continue to be sold at all eight of the country’s World Cup stadiums, according to FIFA officials. So no brand person should be devastated by this decision. Sometimes disruptions do happen in marketing activities, but that need not be apocalyptic.