Tracy Stallard

Do you have an example?
‘Last year we won a Grand Prix in the commerce category for Tiendas Cerca, a delivery service for local shops in Latin America. Small stores across Colombia depend on being open for their livelihoods. Not being able to be open during the pandemic was a huge problem for them. Equally, consumers were struggling to get their everyday needs. So, we came up with an app that enabled consumers to text the owner of a small business and order what they needed. It was like e-commerce in its infancy stage. The goal was to help our customers and our consumers. I love that it was an idea from someone on our sales team, not from the marketing team. They brought it to our in-house agency, draftLine, and they brought it forward. Oftentimes the best solution to a problem is simple and really direct.’

And it kept these small businesses going?
‘Yes. And there's another angle; we as a company depend on these small stores as well. If they're not in business we don't have a place to sell our beer. Helping them, also helps us. Really purposeful marketing is when there's a win for the consumer, for the world, and for the business. We expanded Tiendas Cerca outside of Colombia into nine other countries around the world because we saw that it was performing so well.’

Your LinkedIn page says that you're passionate about building amazing brands that entertain, excite, and deliver great functionality in the lives of people. How does beer add functionality to our lives?
‘We are in a global pandemic of loneliness, and have been for a long time. The COVID pandemic has certainly accelerated that. We, as an organization, want to create more cheers in peoples' lives. This means more people coming together, more people getting in touch with friends, and meeting new people over a beer. We think that beer is a nice enabler to back conversation. At one time we would call ourself the original social network. Beer goes back thousands of years and has been a large part of how society developed.’

AB InBev has a commitment to helping farmers, retailers, entrepreneurs and communities grow. How do you live up to that promise?
‘It's a multidisciplinary effort. It's how everyone across our business needs to think. A good example: we knew there was a consumer demand for an organic beer. But there's very little organic barley in the world because there wasn't a market for it. And farmers are very hesitant about starting to grow something new because the investment is massive. So, we created this Contract for Change, that said: we're gonna buy this organic barley from you in the future if you are willing to grow it. And that's how we were able to bring our first organic beer to life with Michelob ULTRA. So, we help farmers and it's also a huge growth driver because consumers are looking for products that they perceive as healthy and make them feel good.’

Looking back at your career at InBev, what are you most proud of?
‘It's the way that we've brought a new generation of marketers into the company. We've turned people who would have never thought of themselves as marketers into marketers. Right now, one of my close sales colleagues is actually joining the marketing team. It's a little bit uncomfortable for him but it represents the direction that we're going in. For me, the greatest thrill ride is to see how we've been able to transform.’

Is there a particular campaign you're most proud of?
‘Besides Tienda Circa and Corona Fishing, I would bring up #NoExcuse, from Carling Black Label. We won a Grand Prix for it in 2018. It's speaking to the fact that in South Africa there are a lot of individuals, in particular men, who use alcohol as an excuse for domestic violence. A large part of that campaign spoke directly to people who are our consumers. For some brands that might be a really scary thing to do. The clear message was: there is no excuse for domestic abuse. We worked with the government in South Africa on that campaign. It has gone on for some three and a half years now, so it's something that we continue to do. It's part of who we are as a company. In the US we were one of the first organizations to come out in favor of wearing seatbelts and don't drink and drive. We're really glad that it has become a legal mandatory for people in our industry, because we think that's good for communities.’

Looking at the challenges we're facing right now - war in Ukraine, staggering inflation, the energy crisis, sustainability problems - how do you cope with that as a brand?
‘One of the reasons we created draftLine was that we felt we were too far away from our consumer. There were two things we really needed to learn: the who and the what. Who are our consumers? And what is the reality of the world that they're living in? We're consistently looking at our work, asking: is it speaking to the actual consumer need that exists in the world right now? One of our submissions at Cannes this year is for a project we started when the war in Ukraine broke out. It came from this insight that there are lots of people around the world who would like to help in the humanitarian efforts, but they don't know how. So, we said: what if we make it as simple as buying a beer? We took the most loved beer brand from Ukraine, and we launched it in 13 different markets around the world. We make zero money off of it, we donate 100 per cent of the proceeds to NGOs. It's an easy, seamless way for consumers to get involved in something that they care about. It took us six weeks from idea to launch.’

Finally, can you tell us any plans regarding brands, products, or innovations?
‘We have an exciting pipeline of products and campaign work, and we are consistently looking at how we can reinvent our portfolio and our offering to meet what consumers are looking for. Today, that means more things in the seltzer space, more things in the flavored space. So, lots more to come. Stay tuned at your local retailer because you're going to see a lot popping up on shelves soon.’