Anheuser Busch
Cardinal Stritch University
Instructor Michael Welsh
MGT 426 Marketing
August 1, 2013
Table of Contents
History of the Company 3
Early Innovations 5
Product Description 6
Competition 7
Marketing 8
History of the company
Back in the mid 1800’s a large number of German immigrants came to the United States. Many of them settled in the St. Louis area. Because of this, the industry of brewing beer started to blossom there. Because of these German immigrants, a new style of beer was introduced. That new style was called lager. The word lager comes from the German word “lagern”, which means no rest. Eberhard Anheuser, one of the founding fathers of Anheuser Busch, left Germany is 1843. He actually settled in Cincinnati first before moving to St. Louis. He first trained as a soap manufacturer. We went on to own the biggest soap and candle company in St. Louis. After that, even though he had no brewing experience, he became part owner of the Bavarian Brewery, which opened its door first in 1852. By the time 1860 rolled around, Anheuser had enough money to buy out the other investors. And he changed the name to Anheuser & Co. Adolphus Busch was the second youngest of 22 children. When he turned 18 he moved to St. Louis. He made his way there starting in New Orleans and taking the Mississippi river. He originally was a clerk on the riverfront. By the time he turned 21 he had partnership in the brewing supply business. Because of the brewing supply business, Adolphus Busch met Eberhard Anheuser. It was only a short time later that Adolphus met Eberhards daughter, Lilly. In 1861 the two were married and shortly thereafter Adolphus went to work for his father in law. Later he purchased half ownership in the brewery becoming a partner. In 1879 the brewery was renamed Anheuser Busch Brewing Co. A year later Eberhard Anheuser died and Adolphus Busch became the president of the brewery. In 1901 the company broke the 1million barrels of beer sales mark, making it one of the nation’s leading breweries. Adolphus died in 1913 and his son, August A. Busch Sr. became the president of the brewery. One of the toughest times the brewery ever faced was during prohibition. Over half of the nation’s breweries closed their doors during this 13 year period. Anheuser Busch decided to keep the doors open and to diversify the company. During this time, they developed more than 25 different non-alcoholic products such as soft drinks, truck bodies and ice cream. In 1916, in anticipation of prohibition, August Sr. even released Bevo, a non-alcoholic cereal beverage. In 1934, August Sr. died and Adolphus Busch III took over as president of the company. Although they were trying to recover from the economic effects of the prohibition era, Adolphus helped in the slow and steady process. Of course the next challenge was trying to make it through the great depression. The metal can was developed in 193 which helped sales climb.
Following World War I, America and Anheuser Busch experienced a time of growth and prosperity through the 1950’s and 1960’s. The opening of the Newark, NJ facility in 1951, Anheuser Busch created a national network of nine breweries. Under the leadership of August A. Busch Jr., beer sales increased from 3 million barrels to over 34 million barrels. They also developed corporate diversification, which also included family entertainment, industrial products and real estate and can manufacturing. In 1957, Anheuser Busch became the leading US brewer. That is a position that it still holds today. In 1974 August A. Busch III was elected president of Anheuser Busch, Inc. and a year later he succeeded his father and became the chief executive officer. This made him the fourth generation of the family to lead Anheuser Busch. August II led the company to build four additional breweries, expand the family entertainment
