I'm a former Director at ABI, having worked there for 12 years (starting pre-InBev) across several cities. I've thought about what I would write here for the last 5 years. Overall, the strategy is to hire bright young people with false promises of big bonuses, make them work long hours in the grinder, then find someone else when they miss their bonuses and jet. With that in mind:
*This company DOES NOT really pay bonuses. They lure people in with 20%+ of your reference salary, and then consistently find excuses not to pay. It took me the last 7 years in combined bonuses to match what I thought I would make in 1 good year. In multiple years I received ZERO bonus. This environment creates a lot of turnover. Other companies do not do this. Understand: YOU WILL NOT [REALLY] GET A BONUS HERE. I have confirmed this across several functions. Think about the extra years you'll have to work never really getting a bonus.
*ABI is a Brazilian good ol' boys club. It's a rotating gallery of brusque, Brazilian 'talent' who are fast-tracked to senior positions. At one point there, 90%+ of senior leadership was Brazilian. They even speak Portuguese to each other in the elevator, which is terrible form. People with no US experience and no manners are fast-tracked to VP level, and given a golden parachute "special" assignment at GHQ when they fail. I guess there is no talent here in America so they have to tap the elite Brazilian pipeline. If your replaced "Brazilian" with a skin color or religion or gender, they would be under federal investigation.
*The company has no patience. In response to brand/category decline it is a 24/7 panic show, with brand strategies changing quarterly and heads rolling left and right. Michelob Ultra had 6 de facto Brand VPs in 6 years. Everybody is scared of getting yelled at or losing their jobs, so there is zero focus, zero consistency, and so the company fails to build a long-term relationship with its consumers. The culture is one of panic. Long hours and fire drills are a lifestyle if you're in sales or region (insiders will remember working weekends for "7x7")
*Hours really depend on what you do, but anyone who is Senior Manager / Brand Manager or above is going to be working some stupid hours, particularly if you're on a bad team and particularly if you're in NYC or in one of the sales regions.
*In marketing, the meeting culture is insane. At the Director level, easily 2/3 of your time will be spent in unproductive meetings - more if you work in the Global office in NY on Park Avenue. Sales is much better.
*ABI's recruitment strategy is to go after the top biz schools, so the talent there is full of young, high-IQ, arrogant and completely disloyal children with zero industry/company experience who can and do leave the first year they miss their bonuses. A far cry from the legacy-employee experience that once existed in STL.
