Social media engagement soared for Budweiser during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Budweiser was the Official Beer Sponsor of the World Cup, and described the marketing campaign as the biggest spend ever invested by AB InBev.
Aside from its 'Light Up The World Cup' advertising campaign, it distributed eight million Budweiser red light cups that contained audio detectors and LED lights that glow brighter when the sound level increased; created a Snapchat sound-activated lens; scored a branded Budweiser Man of the Match trophy; created a chatbot in the UK called The Bud Bot, which offered a range of tools to augment the fan experience, including voting for Man of the Match and home deliveries of Budweiser; and launched Bud Boat floating bars at selected cities throughout the globe.
According to data from MediaCom North, Budweiser received more than 55,000 total mentions on Twitter alone through its #ManoftheMatch content, ahead of second-placed brand Ikea, which received around 35,000 mentions.
The campaign included interviews with players which were shared on Twitter, and video content that fed into other hashtags around the tournament, including #WorldCup and mentions of specific teams playing during each match.
Paul Cooper, group managing director at MediaCom North, told The Drum: “Budweiser connected with fans as it tapped into a key moment of every World Cup match – the man of the match. No matter which team was playing or won, or what the score was, there’s always social media chatter among fans about the players and, more importantly, positive conversations about the stand-out players of each game.
“Tournaments are made for players to shine and for fans to praise and acknowledge the skills of their sporting heroes. Budweiser leveraged this through its #ManoftheMatch tweets, enabled it to drive a consistent volume of brand mentions among a wide fan base.”
Watch the Budweiser ad below:
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