The Value of Brand Equity

Abstract Through the 1960s and early 1970s, Schlitz beer was a strong number‐two beer brand supported by the well regarded gusto campaigns, such as the "You only go around once in life—so grab all the gusto you can." In the mid‐1970s, Schlitz converted to a fermentation process that took four days instead of 12 and substituted corn syrup for barley malt to gain a strategic cost advantage. The result was a beer that became flat or cloudy after time on the store shelf; Schlitz developed an image of being a "green" beer with "cheap" ingredients.