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Vice Media Budweiser Fifa World Cup

Rising to the Challenge: Budweiser talks World Cup marketing strategy

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By Stephen Lepitak, -

June 12, 2014 | 5 min read

The Drum’s Stephen Lepitak gets the inside track on Budweiser’s World Cup activity as marketing manager Jennifer Anton explains how the brand is using its digital platforms to push its messaging all over the world.

The World Cup is finally upon us, and with it the culmination of months, if not years, of planning by brands (official sponsors and some not-so-official) who have been transfixed on the tournament as they look to tap into the worldwide wave of excitement it generates. Not least among them is Budweiser, the official beer partner, which has been pushing its ‘Rise as One’ campaign all over the globe, aiming to engage football fans and encourage them to share their passion for the game.
By no means a stranger to football sponsorship, Budweiser has been marketing around the World Cup since 1986, and also recently concluded its sponsorship of the FA Cup in England. To get the inside track on the beer giant’s campaign, The Drum caught up with Jennifer Anton in the branded room of Riley’s Bar in London’s Haymarket, where everything from the pool tables to the furniture to the artwork on the walls scream Budweiser. “Football brings people together to celebrate,” she asserts. Marketing manager for both Budweiser and AB InBev stablemate Becks, Anton says Budweiser is a brand that is “all about optimism and celebration,” and is sold around the globe in over 80 countries. A perfect fit then for a global tournament, and for a campaign that looks to unite fans. Kicking off with the ‘Believe as One’ TV spot which was followed up by ‘Celebrate as One’, digital is also set to play a major part in campaign activity, with fan-facing content creation at the forefront.

“It’s incredible the impact digital is having,” says Anton, although she is quick to stress the appeal TV still holds. “TV really drives affinity and will continue to be important,” she says, but admits it is where TV meets with digital that is most exciting. “We’re seeing the cross-over with video on demand and people watching our ads on YouTube. As consumers change their media habits, we’re changing along with them.”

As part of its content strategy, Budweiser is working with Vice Media to produce a series of videos which will run on its website and YouTube channel and feature the tales of football fans from all over the world, such as a group of Thai players who built their own island in order to have somewhere to play. Of the ‘punk zine’ turned global youth media company which now includes a network of digital channels, a TV studio, magazine, record label and book-publishing division, Anton explains that “Vice is great in terms of globally connecting and getting those global stories that we then share around the world”. It’s a relationship that the beer brand looks set to pursue, with Anton saying that from a content perspective, “it makes a lot of sense”. “It’s great to partner with people who are experts in developing content and working with them so that we can bring the ideas and promotion behind it and they can amplify it and bring the artistic side of it and provide unique content.”
Further activity will include a brand takeover of the London Imax, the largest out of home site in Europe, from 13 June, inviting guests and retailers to watch England v Uruguay on 19 June, while train stations across London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds will be draped in Budweiser branding during the course of the competition. With the tournament in Brazil set to be the first truly social World Cup, Budweiser has recognised the importance of using its main digital platforms to push out its messaging, and Anton admits that “real-time is an exciting challenge”. “From our point of view we know that our consumers are engaging through digital on a regular basis, so we’re constantly learning and trialling things.” One such trial was social activation campaign ‘King of Cheers’ where fans shared clips of their best football celebrations using the hashtag #KingOfCheers in a bid to win a trip to the World Cup. Encouraging sharing of the Budweiser brand amongst consumers is “really the most exciting opportunity”, according to Anton. This is heightened by the Vice partnership on the ‘Rise as One’ campaign as the brand seeks to highlight stories that wouldn’t otherwise have been seen – getting to the “emotional element of why football brings people together.” In addition to its focus on branded video and socially activated content, Budweiser has released gold aluminium packaging for its bottles and cans, an on-pack ‘scan to win’ competition and in-store experience ‘Bud Challenger’ offering the chance to win trips to the World Cup, and ‘Chilled Exchange’ trucks travelling the length of the country to offer customers the chance to switch their warm beers for cold ones. All of which means it is extremely unlikely football fans will not engage with Budweiser at some stage in the next few weeks. Just as it planned...This feature was originally published in The Drum Magazine's 11 June edition, available to purchase through The Drum Store.
Vice Media Budweiser Fifa World Cup

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