Supply chain folks, like me, will find Budweiser’s latest marketing campaign – www.trackyourbud.com – irresistible.
Enter the code on your beer in the website and the company tells you where that bottle or can of beer came from. Not just where, but a whole, terrific story about the beer you are drinking: tasting notes, thoughts from the brewmaster, a look at the ingredients.
In the food world, traceability is too often seen as a necessary but complex burden on the supply chain. “Oh boy,” executives might say to themselves, “here comes an IT project that will be late, over-budget and if all quality and safety systems work, never really needed.”
Budweiser has exploded that perception by demonstrating how powerful traceability can be as a means of engaging the consumer. Trackyourbud shows Budweiser drinkers that Budweiser runs a world-class supply chain. It has a passion for quality and safety. It has employees fully invested in making the best beer they can with the best ingredients available.
The next time Bud is an option, I’m going to track my Bud. I will enjoy it and maybe even track another one or so – for research purposes only. I will think about how fantastic my life as a consumer would be if could track all the other things that go down with that beer.