Anheuser-Busch, NBA Draft Bigger Deal, Marketing Support, Brand Alliance
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 05:38PM Special to NYSportsJournalism.com
December 1, 2015: Anheuser-Busch, building on what it feels has been a solid alliance since 1998, has signed a four-year extension marketing partnership with the NBA.
Under terms of the deal, Anheuser-Busch remains the "official beer partner" for the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League.
As part of the new agreement, Anheuser-Busch expands its marketing partnership to include USA Basketball and the league's Hispanic marketing initiative, Noches éne-bé-a.
Anheuser-Busch also has deals with 22 NBA teams.
Financial terms were not released.
Anheuser-Busch last month extended and enhanced its alliances with the NFL (Bud Light is the official beer sponsor for the league) and Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500.
The moves come as Anheuser-Busch InBev is finalizing its acquisition of SABMiller, valued at $107 billion, according to financial analysts.
Among other new activations under the extended deal, Anheuser-Busch and the NBA said they would work together to produce an original digital content media series "designed to bring (Anheuser-Busch's) brand messages to life through basketball."
The videos are scheduled to air on NBA-owned and Anheuser-Busch-owned properties this season.
The partnership also includes enhanced packaging and marketing rights. Among them, Anheuser-Busch can now feature select NBA and team logos collectively on a national basis on cans, bottles and other packaging and in promotional campaigns.
Anheuser-Busch said it would support its brands via the NBA's broadcast partners and continue to engage fans locally through its team pacts.
Anheuser-Busch also said that a number of its flagship brands would activate to support partnership. Budweiser and Bud Light will run concurrent NBA marketing efforts, with each brand owning year-round platforms and different marquee league events, including NBA All-Star, NBA Playoffs, The Finals, NBA Draft and WNBA All-Star.
"The new agreement will allow us to connect our brands with the league, its teams and its fans through authentic campaigns that shape the industry."
"We've expanded this longstanding partnership in key areas that matter to our consumers, like content, packaging and our new affiliation with USA Basketball," Lucas Herscovici, vp-consumer connections for Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. "The new agreement will allow us to connect our brands with the league, its teams and its fans through authentic campaigns that shape the industry."
According to Emilio Collins, NBA evp-global marketing partnerships, "Our relationship with Anheuser-Busch is one of our longest standing partnerships, and we're thrilled to be expanding our activation in new ways that span the basketball calendar. The marketing commitments being made by the Budweiser and Bud Light brands will engage fans in a multitude of new ways through live events, retail programs, digital activation and great storytelling."
Anheuser-Busch also has NBA partnerships in other regions, including a recently unveiled extension with Harbin Beer in China, and a new partnership in Brazil.
A-B's Bud Light Extends Relationship With NFL
Anheuser-Busch Going The Distance With Daytona Speedway, 500
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