AB InBev Hands 2 Beer Brands to W+K in India

By Patrick Coffee 

AB InBev has more confidence in Wieden+Kennedy than it did in Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer.

The multinational beverage giant expanded its relationship with the W+K network by choosing its Delhi office as strategic and creative AOR for the Budweiser and Haywards 5000 brands across the Indian subcontinent.

“The Indian market is growing rapidly amongst other Budweiser global markets, and Wieden’s drive, energy and expertise completely matches ours at this point,” said marketing director Kartikeya Sharma. “Combined with their creative excellence, we can only look forward to putting out some great work for both Budweiser and Haywards 5000, and further expanding our footprint in the country.”

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W+K Delhi managing director Sidharth Loyal added, “It’s an exciting opportunity to get to work on two iconic beer brands that have helped define and shape culture in their own unique ways. We look forward to further strengthening their legacy within the ever-so-thirsty Indian market.” Thirsty!

On that point, India is indeed a rare bright spot on the global sales map for AB InBev, which saw sales decrease in the U.S., Brazil and China last year as it failed to meet revenue estimates for the first three quarters of 2016. According to a January piece in Bloomberg, Indian consumers have been drinking more thanks in large part to an expanding middle class that skews young.

As in the U.S., the craft beer industry is also booming in India. But for now Budweiser and Haywards 5000 remain two of the top five brands in that market. The latter was acquired as part of 2015’s SABMiller merger, and here’s an example of an ad for that brand that recently ran in India.

Anomaly still handles Budweiser in the U.S. while W+K has Bud Light.

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