Lighthouse or Weathervane?
What’s the News?
Defying some predictions, the Bud Light sales loss following their Dylan Mulvaney controversy has been resilient….by their own admission. Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told investors that sales recovery is “not at the fast pace that we were expecting or that we’ve been working for. But nevertheless, progress is in place.”
Which is pretty bold in investor call language.
Analysts say that the company might have lost $1.4 billion in sales.
I thought we were done with this topic? Why is it relevant now?
Some people thought the impact on Bud Light’s business would be temporary, and that’s clearly not true, which has, in turn, re-enforced the relevancy of this topic.
What does the latest data say?
Companies are understandably getting gun-shy about stepping out on divisive issues. (See how ESG is being rebranded). And research shows the public is growing ambivalent about companies taking controversial stands—at least partly as a result of “outrage fatigue,” according to Cait Lamberton, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
What did Bud Light do wrong?
Opened a culture gap with a meaningful portion of its customers
Here I refer you to For the Culture by Marcus Collins. The inclusion of a trans person did not reflect the culture of Bud Light’s customers, some of whom may be anti-trans but many of whom object to companies jumping on a “woke bandwagon” and smell “purpose washing.” Which would have been fine if Bud Light were trying to make an important point and create societal change. (see Target, whose sales were impacted by their Pride merchandise). But they weren’t. They were looking for a cheap win.
Took a position they weren’t ready to stand behind
As soon as the backlash hit, Bud Light backtracked in a way that ensured that everyone was angry with them. They fired a couple people (note a strong possibility that these guys took the fall for something their bosses had approved).
Bud Light says that their point was that Bud Light is for everyone, but this could have been communicated in a dozen different ways and supported the brand and its culture.
What’s the best current approach?
Remember: You’re allowed to say nothing
An institution in our area was facing a dilemma over whether to comment on the conflict in the Middle East. This is the no-win situation of all no-win situations. If you aren’t doing business in that region, have employees there, have some other business connection, there’s no reason to say anything.
Be a light-house, not a weather vane
People are attuned to “purpose washing.” Bud Light was nailed from all directions. Look, if you want to change the world, have at it. You’ll face blowback but you have a good reason. If you’re just looking at the weather vane and seeing where it is pointing right now, you are better off saying nothing.
The chart below has a nice flow chart for decisions like this. But your best positions are high-level principles that are relevant over time—not ideas-of-the-moment.
Be Aware of the Culture and Values of your Stakeholders
This can be a sticky one. Those culture and values might be things you personally are not comfortable with. Having said that, decisions like this are not made in a vacuum and wishing it was different is no help. The values of the culture of you audience or public or stakeholders is—or should be—part of every communication strategy already.