DATE: Sunday, October 5, 1997               TAG: 9710050173

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  171 lines

IT'S A GIMME: MICHELOB IS GOLF'S BEER IT HAS THRUST ITSELF INTO THE GAME AS SPONSOR IN LAST 5 YEARS

When Michelob was searching for a way to boost lagging sales five years ago, corporate executives took a close look at one of Anheuser-Busch's other products, Budweiser, and stole a page from their book on success.

For years, Budweiser has poured millions into sponsorship of motorsports. Almost anyone who watches sports knows the world's best hydroplane boat is the ``Miss Budweiser'' and that Budweiser sponsors ``The Bud at the Glen,'' an annual NASCAR race run at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Budweiser also sponsors some of motorsports top drivers, including NASCAR's Ricky Craven, CART's Christian Fittipaldi and drag racing's Kenny Bernstein.

Michelob, feeling sports sponsorship might be the way to go, started looking for a sport that best matched its demographic market.

In the end, to steal a golf phrase, it was ``a gimme.''

``Golfers match up real close with our demographics,'' said Prevost Foushee, senior brand manager of Michelob beer. ``But it goes beyond that when you think about the sport and the beer.

``Michelob represents the best, the finest ingredients the most intricate brewing process. Golf adheres to strict etiquette and sportsmanship.

``Michelob is the beer of golf.''

The words may come from a corporate talking head, but, on the eve of this year's Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, a protracted look at the game shows Michelob has become the beer of golf. It's everywhere.

Anheuser-Busch's premium-brand beer is in its fourth year of a five-year sponsorship agreement with the PGA Tour and has thrust itself with wallet wide-open into professional golf.

Beyond sponsoring The Michelob Championship, which begins its annual run at Williamsburg's Kingsmill Golf Club on Thursday, the beer is also prominently involved with:

The Michelob Light Classic, a St. Louis-based LPGA Tour event.

The Boone Valley Classic, a PGA Senior Tour event played in Augusta, Mo., as a founding sponsor.

The PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship, as a co-presenting sponsor.

Two mini-tours, the Hooters Tour and PGA's Nike Tour, as a sponsor.

With a primary target group of males 28-34, and women of the same age not far behind, Michelob also got in on the ground floor as a founding sponsor when the PGA Tour created its Internet website (pgatour.com).

While it is uncertain how much of a specific effect Michelob's wooing of the golf set has had on market share, the numbers indicate positive results.

According to analyst John C. Maxwell of Davenport and Co. in Richmond, Michelob brands were flourishing in 1982 when they grabbed a 5.7 market share. But a decade later, that number had dwindled to 2.5.

Since thrusting itself wholeheartedly into golf and using it as a driving force for its advertising and marketing campaigns - Have you caught ``The Gimme Guys'' ads on television and the product's packaging? - the trend has reversed itself.

Michelob's brands - Michelob, Michelob Light, Michelob Dry and Michelob Classic Dark - earned a 3.3 market share in 1996.

``Recently, we've had some positive growth trends that we feel are directly related to golf,'' Foushee said.

With as much emphasis as Anheuser-Busch is putting on getting Michelob's name ``out there'' in the golf world, was the tournament previously wasting a prime opportunity to get the name of one of Anheuser-Busch's primary products out in the public eye? Probably so, although nobody with Anheuser-Busch is willing to go so far as to say so.

They do, however, believe that changing the tournament's name can only help market penetration.

``Our assumption of title sponsorship for the Michelob Championship was a logical next step, considering Michelob's continually growing commitment to the game and to the PGA Tour,'' said August Busch IV, Anheuser-Busch vice president of marketing. ``This sponsorship allows us to build further on that association while providing a focal point for many of our marketing efforts.''

Michelob's heavy involvement with the PGA Tour seemed to have also developed a positive undercurrent when the tournament was searching for a new calendar date. For years, the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic was stuck in front of the British Open and drew, by PGA Tour standards, lousy fields.

When the tournament announced a name change, a date change quickly followed.

Now, the tournament has a much better date on the PGA Tour's schedule, and the payoff will be the best field the tournament has seen in its 17 years at Kingsmill.

The brand may have also unknowingly lowered its demographics, age-wise, by forging a relationship with golf. Tiger Woods, the 21-year-old phenom who won this year's Masters and leads the tour in money earned, and 25-year-old British Open champion Justin Leonard are bringing a younger audience to the game.

``When Anheuser-Busch, Michelob and the PGA Tour started talking about what was best for everyone, we all agreed that this is a better date,'' Foushee said. ``And it's a win-win situation.''

That much is a gimme. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Michelob bottles

Graphics

TOURNAMENT AT A GLANCE

The event: 72-hole tournament, Thursday through Sunday

Purse: $1,550,000 (winner's share: $279,000)

Field: Maximum of 156 players

TICKETS

Daily Grounds passes: Monday: admission free; Tuesday: $10;

Wednesday: $15; Thursday through Sunday: $20 daily

For information on other ticket packages, call 757-253-3985

TELEVISION

Thurs.: 4-6 p.m., ESPN; Fri.: 1-3 p.m., ESPN; Sat.: 1-3:30 p.m.,

WTKR; Sun.: 4-6 p.m., WTKRTHE LINEUP

The final list of 151 players committed to the Michelob

Championship at Kingsmill:

John Adams, Rafael Alarcon, Fulton Allem, Billy Andrade, Stuart

Appleby, Tommy Armour III, Emlyn Aubrey, Woody Austin, Paul Azinger,

Doug Barron, Chip Beck, David Berganio Jr., Shane Bertsch, Ronnie

Black, Phil Blackmar, Jay Don Blake, Guy Boros, Craig Bowden,

Michael Bradley, Mike Brisky, Mark Brooks, Billy Ray Brown, Olin

Browne, Brad Bryant, Patrick Burke, Kevin Burton, Tom Byrum.

Mark Carnevale, Jim Carter, Brandel Chamblee, Michael Christie,

Stewart Cink, Brian Claar, Paul Claxton, Lennie Clements, Russ

Cochran, John Cook, Fred Couples, John Daly, Robert Damron, Marco

Dawson, Glen Day, Jay Delsing, Mike Donald, Ed Dougherty, Scott

Dunlap, Joe Durant, David Duval.

David Edwards, Joel Edwards, Brad Fabel, Ed Fiori, Steve Ford,

Dan Forsman, David Frost, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Jim Gallagher Jr.,

Brent Geiberger, Kelly Gibson, Paul Goydos, Scott Gump, Jay Haas,

Donnie Hammond, Dudley Hart, Steve Hart, J.P. Hayes, Tim Herron,

Gabriel Hjertstedt, Scott Hoch, P.H. Horgan III, Bradley Hughes,

Mike Hulbert, John Huston.

Peter Jacobsen, Lee Janzen, Eric Johnson, Jimmy Johnston, Pete

Jordan, Hideki Kase, Jonathan Kaye, Jerry Kelly, Skip Kendall,

Darrell Kestner, Tom Kite, Greg Kraft, Neal Lancaster, Justin

Leonard, Wayne Levi, Frank Lickliter, Steve Lowery, Sandy Lyle, John

Maginnes, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Doug Martin, Len Mattiace,

Billy Mayfair, Blaine McCallister, Scott McCarron, Jim McGovern,

Larry Mize, John Morse.

Jack O'Keefe, David Ogrin, Steve Pate, Corey Pavin, David

Peoples, Tom Pernice Jr., Chris Perry, Kenny Perry, Dicky Pride, Tom

Purtzer, Brett Quigley, Mike Reid, Larry Rinker, Lee Rinker, Loren

Roberts, Clarence Rose, Hugh Royer III, David Rummells.

Gene Sauers, Tom Sieckmann, Scott Simpson, Joey Sindelar, Jack

Skilling, Jeff Sluman, Taylor Smith, Mike Standly, Payne Stewart,

Dave Stockton Jr., John Stone, Curtis Strange, Chip Sullivan, David

Sutherland, Kevin Sutherland, Hal Sutton.

Phil Tataurangi, David Toms, Kirk Triplett, Ted Tryba, Bob Tway,

Omar Uresti, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Grant Waite, Duffy

Waldorf, Mark Wiebe, John Wilson, Willie Wood, Fuzzy Zoeller.

FINGERS IN THE PIE

Highlighting Michelob's role in professional golf:

The Michelob Championship at Kingsmill - Beer is in its second

year as title sponsor of event held annually at Kingsmill Resort in

Williamsburg and televised nationally this year by CBS and ESPN.

Event was previously sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, the parent company

of Michelob.

The Michelob Light Classic - In second year as title sponsor of

LPGA tournament held annually in St. Louis, home of Anheuser-Busch's

and Michelob's headquarters. Event was won by Annika Sorenstam in

early June.

THE TOUR Championship - For a fourth consecutive year, Michelob

is serving as co-presenting sponsor of the PGA Tour's official

season-ending event.

The Boone Valley Classic - Michelob is a founding sponsor of this

PGA Senior Tour stop held in Augusta, Mo. Hale Irwin won event three

weeks ago.

pgatour.com - Michelob is a founding sponsor of the PGA Tour's

Internet site and has a section of the site devoted to Michelob's

history and Michelob's ``Great Holes of Golf'' for 1997.

Michelob Light Million Dollar Challenge - Rewards LPGA players

for holes-in-one and hosts a $1 million shootout at Desert Inn Golf

Course in Las Vegas on Nov. 19. The first player to make a

hole-in-one at Desert Inn will win the $1 million.

VH1 Fairway to Heaven Tournament - Michelob Light sponsors

charity event in Las Vegas that brings together celebrities from

music, television and film. The event is taped and broadcast

nationally by VH1.

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