In 2015, Anheuser Busch’s Bud Light devoted marketing efforts to aligning its brand with fun and spontaneity. Its “Up for Whatever” tagline inspired activations that ranged from a “House of Whatever” pop-up at this year’s Super Bowl to the takeover of an entire town dubbed “Whatever, USA.” The campaign proved richly successful. Bud Light sales in the United States saw an upswing in 2015, and the beer is still the best-selling brand in the country. Even so, it has continued to innovate with new messaging and events in 2016.
Bud Light has long had a major footprint at the Super Bowl. In light of the election year, its activation at Super Bowl 50 included a hotel takeover called the Bud Light Party. Tying into the on-air spot that featured actors Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen as political figures, the activation was inspired by a presidential campaign headquarters. Bud Light also hosted a 30,000-square-foot “fan haven” at San Francisco’s Union Square. Instead of offering quirky, unexpected occurrences to support the “Up for Whatever” mentality, as happened during the 2015 Super Bowl in Phoenix, this year’s event channeled the new “Raise One to Right Now” tagline.
“It was all about celebrating football with a Bud Light in hand,” says Khaleed Juma, creative director at Mosaic, which produced the activation. Guests could partake in virtual football activities, order grilled cheese sandwiches inspired by individual N.F.L. teams, and sip Bud Light from commemorative cans. With new cans and a new logo to roll out, the brand focused its early 2016 marketing efforts on on-air spots that would acquaint the public with the changes. But Juma hints that the next six months will see a flurry of new events.
Perhaps as a taste of what’s to come, Bud Light hosted its first South by Southwest activation at the annual conference in Austin this March. Again produced by Mosaic, the promotion played off the music vertical of the conference. It featured a custom Bud Light “beer bottle organ” that played music through the bottles and a Bud Light-branded guitar that guests could play.
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