A few months after its Bud Light brand lost its top spot in the nation, Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest beer company, announced the departure of its head of U.S. marketing.
U.S. Chief Commercial Officer Kyle Norrington will oversee marketing operations after U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Garbe departs at the end of 2023 “to embark on a new chapter in his career,” according to the company.
According to the company, Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, will receive direct reports from other sales leaders.
In an email statement, Whitworth said, “These senior leadership changes will accelerate our return to growth as we continue to focus on what we do best—brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter.”
He added that fewer management tiers would result from the modifications.
Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light as the top brand in the United States during the summer. While
parent company, Constellation Brands, gained traction and more successfully marketed itself to younger beer drinkers, the brand’s sales have been declining for years.
When Bud Light collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April for a sponsored Instagram post that ran during the NCAA basketball men’s and women’s national championship weekend, the company also faced strong criticism.
In response, conservative influencers and politicians threatened to boycott the company and posted videos of themselves shooting cans, pouring out beer, or tossing it away.
Sales of Bud Light fell off. Experts predicted that Modelo Especial would have surpassed all other beers in the near future in the United States, but the boycotts and the combined sales paths of the two brands propelled it to the top sooner rather than later.
The company made an effort to defuse the situation and win back customers who had vowed never to drink Bud Light again. In a statement released on April 14, Whitworth stated that the business “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”
A few weeks later, the business placed two of its top marketers on leave. It also had large rebates on Bud Light before Memorial Day.
In July, the company announced that it would lay off 350 workers, or about 2% of its U.S. staff, as part of another shake-up in marketing.
Mulvaney claimed that despite the boycott’s personal effects, Anheuser-Busch never contacted her. According to her, the company’s response “permits customers to be as hateful and transphobic as they want.”
At the height of the controversy, shares of AB InBev, the parent company of Anheuser-Busch, dropped from roughly $66 to $45 per share. Since then, they have mostly recovered those losses, closing on Wednesday at roughly $61.
However, over the previous five years, the stock of Modelo parent Constellation Brands has increased 21%, while that of AB InBev has decreased 22%. Over that period, Boston Beer, a smaller rival, has increased by 11% while Molson Coors has decreased by roughly 8%.