Avoiding Branding Nightmares: Lessons from Anheuser-Busch and Mulvaney | by Andrea Truan | Apr, 2023

We’ve watched the Anheuser-Busch and Mulvaney drama play out in the media, and I thought it might be time to talk about brand safety.

Whether you agree with the ultra-conservative customers who are up in arms about their beloved beer brand or you’re siding with the Anheuser-Busch marketing campaign, the idea that one marketing campaign can cost a company up to 3 billion in lost revenue is a terrifying proposition for any company.

Your brand’s reputation is the most valuable asset you possess. It requires a significant investment of resources and time to establish trust and loyalty with your customers. If that trust is broken, it can be an arduous and costly journey to regain it. That being said, you can protect your brand by creating great partnerships that benefit all parties.

What are the goals of implementing a co-branded campaign?

Knowing how risky a co-branding campaign could be, why would you implement one? The main objective behind implementing a co-branded campaign is to utilize the audience of a third party to attract a new group of customers and increase revenue.

Another optional goal is to piggyback a lesser know brand onto the reputation of a more well-known brand.

Looking at three of the most popular co-branding strategies, I have outlined things you should consider with each one.

Influencer campaigns

Tapping into an influencer’s 10 million subscriber base is a marketer’s dream that can quickly turn into a nightmare if you’re not careful.

1. What are the demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and personas of their followers? Do these characteristics match your personas?
2. Does the influencer’s value system align with the values of your business?
3. Are there any red flags in their past behavior, posts, or previous partnerships that could harm your brand?

Social trend campaigns

The biggest risk here is that someone could be injured or killed with some of these social challenges. Imagine that your marketing campaign implements a popular food challenge like the Tim Tam Slam and a child choked to death. That would quickly become a PR disaster and your brand will be forever tied to that horrible event.

1. What are the risks to people’s health with the challenge?
2. Is there a charity component or other business associated with the challenge? If so, does that align with your company’s business goals and values?
3. Do you have a solid communication strategy to implement if the campaign goes south?

Partner marketing with co-branded campaigns

1. What are the demographics of their audience? Do these characteristics match your personas?
2. Partnerships should be mutually beneficial. What value are you bringing to their audience? What value are they bringing to your campaign?
3. Does the partner have any associations with influencers, political agendas, social groups, or other businesses that could be problematic for your brand?

1. Know your customers inside and out. If there’s a question about whether or not a campaign will cause an issue, survey your customers. Test the campaign with a very limited audience and tightly gauge reactions. Make adjustments accordingly.
2. Learn everything you can about the influencer, trend, or co-branding partner before you move into a contract with them. Outline expected behaviors, KPIs, timelines, and deliverables in the contract, and closely monitor all of their channels. Include an exit strategy in the contract.
3. Make sure the values of your influencer tightly align with the values of your company. While this isn’t a guarantee against any future issues, it will help you identify possible problems early on and address them before a public launch.
4. Run through all of the worst-case scenarios you can think of. If you weigh the risk against the reward and are willing to commit to the partnership, ensure that there is a communication strategy in place and that you have a spokesperson who’s prepared to handle media if the campaign goes south. And remember that timing is critical in these situations. The longer a company waits to respond, the worse it will be.
5. Monitor all channels for any signs that the campaign is creating a negative response. If a course correction is needed, be prepared to pivot as quickly as possible.
6. Create a new brand if necessary. If you decide to tap into a partner’s audience that differs significantly from your buyer persona, but still adds value to your company, create a separate sub-brand that packages the product and campaign according to the new audience’s values and interests.

The Anheuser-Busch marketing team wasn’t wrong to pursue an influencer campaign to garner a younger audience for the Bud Light brand. Where they failed was understanding their customer base and doing due diligence on finding the right influencer.

If you have any questions or you’re in the market for some marketing advice, I’m currently accepting fractional CMO positions or consulting projects for brand and marketing strategy. You can email me at andreatruan@gmail.com or connect with me through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreatruan/