• Adweek, Monday, July 23, 2007 10:30 AM

Facing a sales slump, Beck's beer is putting its ad account up for grabs, according to insiders, and Ground Zero--which got the business just a year ago -- and isn't trying to keep it. In the past, the Inbev-owned brand, now distributed here in the U.S. by Anheuser-Busch, has spent about $40 million on domestic advertising, that dropped to $22 million in U.S. media in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Prior to Ground Zero, Beck's had been with Leo Burnett in Chicago and when last in review, that agency was among the contenders, along with Lowe and Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

"There's no secret it has been a difficult transitional period with the InBev brands coming into the Anheuser-Busch network," says Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights. "There were supply issues, for example, and typical transitional issues. In general, Beck's has been slower-growing import compared to others. They have not participated in the robust growth of the import segment." He notes that Beck's supermarket sales are down 8.5% year to date.

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