After successful partnerships with ranchero star Vicente Fernandez in 2010 and Pitbull in 2011 (the latter in a campaign valued at $10 million in media spend), Anheuser-Busch was seeking another iconic Latin act to pair with Bud Light. Marc Anthony and his 15-date Cambio de Piel U.S. tour was an obvious choice.
But the partnership is just one aspect of AB’s expanded strategy to use music to reach Hispanics at national and local levels. In a new endeavor, the company is partnering with regional acts in a series of smaller but more frequent and targeted actions. The first was the launch of AB’s new Montejo Beer in the southwestern United States through an alliance with norteño act Los Tigres del Norte that includes radio spots and product placement in the group’s new video.
All told, it will add up to a significant increase in Hispanic-targeted media buys from AB, says Ryan Garcia, the company’s vp regional multicultural marketing (a newly created position). With $290 million in measured U.S. media spending in 2013, according to Kantar Media, that could mean as much as $55 million in dedicated ad dollars. “Hispanics represent almost 19 percent of Bud Light business,” he says, “and we are looking to spend proportionately.”