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Anheuser-Busch Offers After-Work, Before-Play Beverage

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

Aug. 9--Anheuser-Busch Cos. is launching Tilt, a new flavored and caffeinated malt beverage. It's aimed at young adult males looking for a refreshing pick-me-up once they leave work and are getting ready to party.

The raspberry-flavored drink will appeal to 21- to 27-year-old males who want a beverage that helps them make the transition to play from work, said Mic Zavarella, director of innovation at A-B's domestic brewing subsidiary. "Tilt was designed with this transition in mind," he said.

Like Be, which A-B launched nine months ago, Tilt is a blend of caffeine, ginseng and guarana -- a paste derived from a Brazilian fruit.

However, Tilt has a taste and a color that's distinctive from Be, which took many of its cues from a beer, said Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation and new products at A-B's domestic brewing unit.

Tilt also targets male drinkers who'll consume the beverage off-premise and after work as opposed to co-ed drinkers who consume Be late at night at on-premise locations like bars and night clubs.

"There should be very little overlap between these brands, both from the time of day when people would consume them and the venue where they're consuming the product," Zavarella said.

Each 16-ounce serving of Tilt -- packaged in sleek, aluminum cans -- contains either 6.6 percent, 6 percent or 4 percent alcohol by volume, depending on state law. Cans will be sold individually.

Each 16-ounce serving contains about 70 milligrams of caffeine, which is about 27 percent more caffeine than in a 12-ounce can of Mountain Dew.

The roll-out will be gradual, with nationwide distribution reached by October. A-B has yet to set a release date for metro St. Louis.

Because Tilt is intended to be consumed after work but before a night on the town, it's a niche product.

However, young adult drinkers are splintering their drinking occasions and demanding beverages that suit these needs, McGauley said.

"They thirst for variety, they want more options in their overall alcohol-beverage set," he said. "What we're doing is providing them with this."

Creating new, innovative products makes sense for the St. Louis brewer, though analysts remain skeptical about how effectively these new drinks can combat the growing popularity of distilled spirits among young adult drinkers. These drinkers like to experiment with a wide variety of tastes and colors typically found in mixed drinks.

Be and Tilt are aimed at attracting drinkers who like energy drinks such as Red Bull while also picking up consumers who enjoy flavored malt beverages, or malternatives, said Brian Morgan, U.S. research analyst at the Chicago office of London-based consumer market research company Euromonitor International.

Energy drinks in particular have found a receptive audience among young drinkers who mix them with spirits such as vodka.

"A-B is trying to create a high-growth hybrid category," Morgan said. "If it catches on as a popular drink mixer and becomes seen as a high-profile brand, (Tilt) definitely could see some short-term gains."

However, he doubted the sustainability of this kind of drink, given that it remains a malt-based beverage. "The problem is that young people are turning away from beer," Morgan said. "This product doesn't really solve that problem."

Tilt and Be may follow the path of malternatives, which saw rapid growth before peaking in 2002, he added.

Though still lucrative, malternatives have steadily declined in sales for the last two years, buoyed only by new flavors. This decline will continue through 2009, according to Euromonitor projections.

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Copyright (c) 2005, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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BUD,

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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