Americans are ditching beer — here’s how Anheuser Busch’s new incoming marketing chief plans to fix it

AB
InBev

• Beer has an image problem, and giants
  like Anheuser-Busch InBev know that they must shake things
  up and innovate in order to survive.
• AB InBev is trying to tackle the challenge by, among
  other things, appointing a new marketing chief who hails
  from ZX Ventures, the company’s global innovation
  unit.
• Earp told Business Insider that he will focus on
  consumer empathy, design and prototyping for its marketing
  efforts.
• Improving technology and building deeper relationships
  with consumers is also a huge focus for the incoming brand
  chief.

Beer has an image problem. Americans are increasingly opting
for wine, cocktails and other spirits over beer — and brewers are
facing an existential crisis with
declining sales and consumption.

Adult beverage giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev know that
they must make huge changes in order to survive.  Perhaps
that is why the mass-market brewer has appointed Pedro Earp
as its next chief marketing officer.

Earp has spent his entire career at AB InBev since starting at
the company in 2000, with stints across marketing, consumer
connections and mergers and acquisitions.

Most recently, he led
ZX Ventures, AB InBev’s New York-based global innovation
unit, helping it spearhead new initiatives in e-commerce, craft
and specialty beers as well as retail activations. 

Business Insider caught up with the incoming marketing chief of
brands like Budweiser and Corona for a chat. Here’s an
edited version of the conversation.

Tanya Dua: How has your time at ZX prepared
you for your next role?

Pedro Earp: In 2015, we decided to create
ZX as a sort of a separate independent arm, because when you’re
trying to be innovative and fast, you can’t compete for resources
with the big machine. We came to the conclusion that …

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