Pete Brown captured the decline of Stella beautifully in this recent piece I’ve mentioned here before. It came down to:
After the merger, Inbev instituted an aggressive cost-cutting culture. Out went the lavish TV ad production budgets. In came cheaper, high-visibility posters. Out went the embossed cans; in came a smaller bottle size for supermarket multipacks.
The beer itself, brewed in the traditional style with quality ingredients, had always tasted more full-bodied than its competitors. That put some people off. Inbev started to brew with maize, cheaper than barley, producing a blander-tasting beer.
There is a particular corporate mindset that seeks to redress this by returning to more lavish ads while keeping the beer cheap, but that seems to be the InBev way. The fact that it often works says a lot about us.
I think Roger Protz has the best answer.