This Bud's for Who?

--Another likely turn of events is that large, global brands will get more of the marketing pie at the expense of smaller ones. "InBev has shown that it will focus on the global brand," Scott, of Ascot, said. In the case of today's announcement, he said, Budweiser and Bud Light, while they may see some changes, will likely be the favored brands.

-- InBev's choices for its international brands are generally apparent. Its U.S. push for Stella Artois last year for example; ad spend was up 66.3 percent to $12 million last year.

-- Budweiser, with $176 million in ad spend last year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus, and Bud Light, with ad spend of $99 million, are the top two beer brands in the U.S. in terms of sales, but have not been aggressive on a global scale. About 40 percent of revenue from the InBev/A-B merger is expected to come from the U.S., according to a press release outlining the new arrangement.

Part of that global focus is likely to be addressing the large number of smaller brands under the A-B flags that are underperforming. A-B said before the deal with InBev that it would be doing so, and today's announcement is undoubtedly going to be part of any changes.