Budweiser looks for creative agency

The world's largest beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev is looking for a creative agency for two of its brands - Budweiser and Stella Artois, in India. 

Currently, DraftFCB Ulka handles the duties for Tennet beer one of AB InBev India's six brands. The other brands in its portfolio are Hoegarden, Stella Artois, Leffe, Beck and Budweiser.

Budweiser was introduced in the country last year and till now, it has been advertised mostly through OOH, radio and selective print publications only. It had also used PR and property based associations to drive the brand.
 
Globally, Budweiser goes by the tagline, The King of Beers, which will be retained in India. Last week, DDB Global was awarded the global ad business for Budweiser and in another development yesterday, DDB London was awarded the £5.5 million Budweiser ad business for the UK market. The brand is known for some of its iconic ad campaigns, which also includes the 'Whassup?' campaign that ran from 1999-2002.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has already introduced the beer in the southern part of the country including in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka ­ after InBev bought out USbased Anheuser-Busch (AB) in November 2008.

AB InBev India sells beers like Stella Artois, Beck's, Leffe and Hoegaarden, among others at the moment, which are brewed in Hyderabad along with Budweiser.

The brand was launched in North India and will be made available in a phase wise manner in Delhi and NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Haryana in the first phase; and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab in the next phase. Currently, it is available in nine states and in a couple of years, the brand may go for a national presence.