InBev wants to tap into the Budweiser marketing machine

Louie the Lizard followed in the Talking Frogs' footsteps as a popular character in Budweiser beer commercials. Anheuser-Busch spends millions on its marketing campaigns each year.

ST. LOUIS - The King of Beers, the folks who spent lavishly to bring you the Bud Bowl, the Talking Frogs, the Whassup Guys, and the Clydesdales, is being swallowed by a Belgian brewer known for its frugality.

But InBev SA has an ambitious plan behind its $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, hoping to tap into the US company's marketing power and make the Budweiser and Bud Light brands into globally recognized products.

Leaving marketing untouched, though, will mean cuts elsewhere. InBev expects to wring out $1.5 billion in annual savings, most of which will come from better managing the supply chain. InBev keeps a sharp eye on costs, forcing managers to justify every cent spent.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. agreed to the sweetened $70 per share bid late Sunday to create the world's largest brewer and head off what was shaping up as an acrimonious fight. Swallowing Anheuser-Busch will give InBev, the maker of brands including Stella Artois, Beck's, and Bass, half the US beer market and a fifth of those in China and Russia.

Gaining control of an iconic beer to sell into emerging markets such as China and Brazil was a key part of the deal, said InBev chief executive Carlos Brito.

That image has been built by spending heavily on marketing. Industry estimates put Anheuser's US spending last year at $378 million, said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights. That's more than the combined spending of rivals, Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Brewing Co., which began their own joint venture this month.

Brito said InBev has no plans to trim advertising in the United States.

Still, some experts questioned whether InBev can really hold off indefinitely. With the US economy slowing, InBev might constrain spending on sports endorsements, said John Sweeney, director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina.

Anheuser-Busch executives are expected to have a hand in the new company. Chief executive August Busch IV will move into a nonexecutive role, but will be on the new company's board.

InBev said it plans to use St. Louis as its North American headquarters, and that it will keep open all 12 of Anheuser-Busch's North American breweries.