AB InBevCopied

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer and owner of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, set out a new global purpose in December 2021 under chief executive Michel Doukeris: 'We dream big to create a future with more cheers', with a consumer-first strategy focused on innovation and sustainability. In 2022 it unveiled a corporate identity to match, Campaign US reported, developed with an outside global brand consultancy.

The new symbol is designed to be read three ways. It shows three glasses clinking at the moment of a cheers. In the golden colour of beer, it also suggests barley leaves, a key brewing ingredient. And it can become a globe, a nod to the company's reach. The company's brand guidelines describe a two-part logo, symbol plus wordmark, built as a flexible system in gold, black and white, with the purpose line used as a sign-off.

Richard Oppy, global vice president for global brands, said the logo should make people think about a future with more innovation, more sustainability and more happiness, and that the design would roll out cohesively across the company. AB InBev studied how Coca-Cola, FedEx and P&G evolved their wordmarks, and looked to the Nike and Amazon symbols. Oppy argued that a visual rebrand goes beyond artwork, giving the purpose a clear direction.

The reasoning was that AB InBev was moving beyond beer and beyond the mainstream, and wanted a corporate brand that could play a larger role in communications.

Corporate brewers rarely bother with corporate identity, and the clinking-glass idea is warm and specific to what the company sells. But a symbol asked to be glasses, barley and a globe at once tends to be none of them clearly, and the gold mark will mostly live on annual reports, far from the beer drinkers it celebrates.