Blog #4 - It's in the Can

Nathan Gillispie

03/10/20

It's in the Can

            It is nearly impossible to avoid the addictive nature social media has on individuals. Social media has found ways to infiltrate public buildings, businesses, schools, homes, and now the consumer pocket. With such an immense reach social media now holds over the consumer, it’s imperative for audience members to sift through which content they choose to follow. As a college student, I constantly find myself raveled in various engagements with different Beer companies. The media presence that beer companies (particularly Bud Light) offer consumers provide sources of entertainment, information, and public relations. I have examined the public presence of Bud Light Brewery across several main social media platforms and will analyze the communication power (Fuchs, 2017) they hold over their audience.

            The first media platform that I observed from Bud Light was their verified Instagram account, @budlight. Currently, Bud Light has 234 posts and 5 public story categories advertising their products. The account remains very active and most of their posts average 8,000 likes from 305k followers. The majority of the content they post on their account are memes that appeal to younger viewers that reference popular social media trends. Bud Light recently posted a meme referencing the Bachelor Rose Ceremony for Valentine’s day and another post on their take of the #DollyPartonChallenge. 

Bud Light interacts with viewers through the comment section and respond to followers. This opens funny dialogues between the consumer and corporation and gives Bud Light a personality to display toward the public. Bud Light has millions of posts displayed on their tagged page and even have a tab for purchasing Bud Light sponsored gear. The periodic “story” content Bud Light presents on their profile feed relates to popular events in the world and gives them a chance to advertise specialty products. They have a category for football beer, summer beer packages, and even LGBTQ+ themed products for pride month. Bud light has over 1.8 million relevant posts related to #budlight and are using Instagram to advertise and propel their product forward in the market. The targeted audience for Bud Light’s Instagram account appears to be young adults who understand the meme culture and accept the dry humor in many of their posts.

            Bud Light has an actively similar presence in media through their verified Twitter account, @budlight; However, the content Bud Light chooses to share on twitter is a bit different compared to Instagram. Most of the twitter posts from Bud Light revolve around popular TV commercials and paid advertisements from the company. I noticed a huge reduction in memes and more content directed for viewers to engage with. Bud Light interacts with the user community by retweeting relevant posts, commenting on followers’ tweets (regarding Bud Light), and liking users’ posts referencing Bud Light. Twitter is a much more interactive platform for Bud Light to engage with consumers and they do it quite frequently. Bud Light creates polls for their followers and responds to feedback from their viewers. This is an alternate approach compared to how Bud Light is advertised on Instagram and they display themselves in a more professional manner on Twitter.

            Facebook is another main media platform that Bud Light remains constantly active on; however, the difference in tone on Facebook is a hybrid of the other two media accounts (Instagram & Twitter). Bud Light uploads the same posts from Instagram onto their Facebook page and share the same content posts on Facebook from Twitter. This makes sense because Bud Light’s largest following base comes from Facebook and they wish to form positive relationships with both audience groups from each platform on one main account. Bud Light’s Facebook page is filled with information about the company along with advertising posts and sponsored gear to shop for. They have an “events” page with dates for community engagement, celebrations, and kickoffs to party drinking contests. Even on Facebook, Bud Light remains interactive with user posts by providing funny, friendly, and witty comments to their followers. This is an effective and free opportunity for Bud Light to form positive public relationships with their consumers while advertising the products they sell.

            Youtube was the last main social media platform that had a verified Bud Light Account. The use of this platform was very minimal as it only uploaded scripted advertisements that the company sponsored. Advertisements ranged from popular commercial ads to featuring guest stars like Post Malone. Bud Light has the smallest follower base on YouTube (176K subscribers); however, that does not stop them from successfully marketing their videos. Many of the posted videos on Bud Light’s YouTube account have well over 1 million views with a very positive “like” to “dislike” ratio. YouTube did not seem like a platform that was used to interact with other users but, provide creative marketing campaigns for the products they sell. Scrolling through the comment section on Bud Light’s popular videos, I hardly found any reactions from Bud Light responding to their audience. Bud Light uses this media platform specifically for displaying video advertisements and gaining a follower base from the viewers.

            I was unable to find any other verified social media accounts that were linked to Bud Light Brewery. I assume the activity Bud Light would receive on other social media platforms like Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Visco would be very minimal. Bud Light chooses to make its presence known on the major media platforms that are most used today (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). It’s interesting how Bud Light portrays itself on these social media accounts as people

would not necessarily put a face behind a corporate business. What Bud Light is doing so far on these platforms is establishing an identity for the consumers that creates a friendly and approachable environment. Users who see the media posts that Bud Light engages with may be more inclined to purchase their products. It’s important to understand that Bud Light does represent an alcoholic beverage and must carefully provide disclaimers to an unintended underage audience.  Of course, Bud Light wants to be viewed as a positive brand to associate with by providing clever and intriguing posts but, they need to remain cognizant of the brand they are marketing and not target the wrong audience for their products, as it would be illegal. 

            As a critic of Bud Light’s social media content, I would recommend a more professional engagement with the content they choose to post. Their Instagram feed is filled with memes that seem to be trying too hard in captivating an audience with unfunny posts and references. Bud Light should use social media, more so, to advertise their brand and posting content that reflects the positive reactions they have received from satisfied customers. Posting seasonal sales, offering coupons to followers, or free giveaways are all tactics that would tremendously increase their following base. Joining the “meme culture” comes with benefits but might unintentionally alienate the real audience members they are trying to target. I would encourage more posts of sponsored events like the Super Bowl or social movements like Pride month to incorporate their brand in meaningful ways. Not only would this be more effective for the company but, give them values to uphold and support in a divided country. Bud Light should try creating advertisements that are centered around bringing people together over the love of beer.

References

Fuchs, Christian. Social Media a Critical Introduction. Sage, 2017.