Ricardo Dias, Anheuser-Busch InBev

Global Vice President, Consumer Connections

Ricardo Dias made history in 2014.   He led the company’s US media review, which culminated in a move to outsource media buying from in-house Busch Media Group, established in 1992.  Dias is a fearless advocate for digital innovation, and the recent move to MediaCom will insure that the brewer stays contemporary and relevant amid today’s fast-changing and increasingly-fragmented media landscape.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world's largest brewer with big international brands like Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks and Corona.  The company’s ad budget is well over $1billion in the US alone.  Ricardo Dias was the perfect individual to oversee the media transition.  A year ago he was promoted to the role of Global Vice President of Consumer Connections, after serving as the company’s Vice President of Procurement for Asia Pacific while based in Shanghai.  He is one of the few executives who embraces innovation in a digital age, particularly as the company understands the need to build brand loyalty with fickle millennial beer drinkers, while also balancing costs and return-on-investment.

Ricardo Dias has lived and worked on four continents.  He began his career at Brazil’s Ambev in 2001 where he started in local sales and marketing, then moved to a procurement role in São Paulo.  His next stop was Procurement Manager for the UK & Ireland for A-B InBev, followed by two years in Toronto as Procurement Director of North America for Labatt Breweries, Canada’s larger brewer and now part of Anheuser-Busch InBev.  His next move was to China as the A-B InBev Procurement Director for the massive market, which then led to his Asia Pacific role.

Following such a strong international procurement background, Ricardo has fully embraced his new Global Consumer Connection role.  A-B InBev recently ran its first hackathon in London to explore ways of developing stronger connections with consumers and underscore its commitment to digital innovation.  The company hosted 70 developers, designers and entrepreneurs to learn new ways to enhance its food and beer pairing application program (API), built by the company's Beer Garage.  He commented: "This weekend’s hackathon is just the launch party for this API. It is an early example of the big data partnership opportunities that we see within the tech industry."  And we have no doubt that it’s also the just the beginning of the next stage of Ricardo Dias’ career.