AKQA | Agency Profile, Contacts, AOR, Client Relationships

• The new packaging features bold colors, a larger logo, and illustrations.
• Made by , "Open The Bar" launched across social channels (Meta, Pinterest, and Twitter), audio, connected TV (CTV), premium digital platforms (such as Hulu, YouTube, and Vevo), and contextual digital (such as Spotify and the Bleacher Report).
• The campaign will continue rolling out throughout Spring 2023.
• The brand will likely:
  • Continue increasing TV spend
  • Return to higher ad spend
  • Launch additional ads over the coming months
  • Seek new agency partners
• Target demographic: 
  • Male higher household-income (HHI) consumers from 25-54
    • So, millennials and Gen-X

• Since Cutwater's parent company, last year, it has appointed several Cutwater-specific DMs.
  • This included promoting Michelle Park to commercial brand strategy head Michelle Park (hired in March 2020, promoted in December 2022) and Alexis Pearlman to brand manager (hired in May 2021, promoted in January 2023).
  • AB InBev also named Brittany Roy as Cutwater's brand communications head in November 2022.

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • 2021-2022 spend: Cutwater spent approximately $7.5m on national TV commercials last year; it did not invest in this channel in 2021.
  • 2022 ad programming: Its 2022 commercials targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as NFL Football, MLB Baseball, MLB on FOX Pregame, American Flat Track, and MLB on FS1 Postgame.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • 2021-2022 spend: The brand allocated roughly $4.7m toward digital ads last year, down 41% from the roughly $7.9m allocated in 2021.
  • 2022 data: Last year, Cutwater earned about 560.2m digital impressions via Instagram (54%), Facebook (37%), and desktop video/YouTube (9%) ads. 

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: If you haven't yet done so, reach out to remain top-of-mind.
  • AB InBev is still vulnerable to review, and it may seek new brand-specific agency partners for Cutwater.
• Current agency roster:
  • AKQA: Creative agency partner (at least for this campaign project)
  • View AB InBev's full roster here.

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by Pathmatics.

(View our recent update on AB InBev here.)