VP of marketing at Bud Light, Alissa Heinerscheid, the first woman to lead in the brand’s 40 year history, was a guest on the Make Yourself At Home podcast on late last month. The podcast, presented by household management app Nines, aims to speak with different people succeeding in their careers about how work and home are connected. In the episode, Heinerscheid spoke of wanting to move away from Bud Light’s “fratty reputation.” She is instrumental in evolving Bud Light’s mission and reputation, and acknowledged that Bud Light has been “in decline for a really long time” and without attracting young drinkers, “there would be no future for Bud Light.”
Heinerscheid went on to explain what her beliefs in evolving and elevating the company mean. “It means inclusivity, shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and men. […] Representation is the heart of evolution, you’ve got to see people [who] reflect you.”
She is determined to move past Bud Light’s”fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor” and take a different approach to marketing the beer. This different approach is reflected in recent Bud Light ads like the Super Bowl ad where Heinerscheid cast an “incredible female choreographer” and Bud Light’s recent collaboration with trans superstar Dylan Mulvaney.
“It’s sometimes helpful to recognise that this is the spot. This is where I think I had dreamed of being, in some kind of position like this. It’s an interesting dynamic as a woman in a very male-dominated industry like beer, it’s been a long road,” Heinerscheid said on Make Yourself At Home.
“It’s been tense and hard but it’s also brought a lot of clarity and perspective about who I want to be and how I want to operate in the world. […] I have to prioritise bringing other people along the way. Community and women, it doesn’t mean anything unless I am positively impacting other people so that’s been incredibly important to me,” she added.
“Female representation in this role is something I’ve been really committed to.”
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