The next chapter in Bud Light’s ‘Up For Whatever’ reality TV style initiative, first launched during the brand’s star-studded Super Bowl spot earlier in the year, was the focal point of the beer brand’s NBA All-Star activation.
The experience revolved around two genuine fans hanging out with basketball superstars for the weekend’s extravaganza.
Lucky Bud Light drinkers and hardcore basketball lovers Jesse and Luis enjoy a unique Bud Light backed All-Star experience that includes spending time with former NBA superstars Alonzo Mourning, Karl Malone, Penny Hardaway, Bruce Bowen, Darryl Dawkins, plus a chauffeur driven ride to the game by mascot Benny the Bull.
Mirroring its work at the Super Bowl, this reality TV approach sees unsuspecting consumers handed bottles of Bud Light and asked whether they are ‘ready for anything that follows’.
The resulting content is then used as the creative for a multi-platform campaign spanning TV commercials, digital film, social and experiential work.
The initiative is spearheaded by reality TV creative such as:
Another innovative aspect of the #UpForWhatever NBA activation revolved around a Bud Light designed pair of shoes – GPS High Tops – and the reality TV adventures of those who tried them on.
Bud Light’s on-site presence at the NBA All-Star event itself, so often a major strand of its current sponsorship activation strategy across many of its flagship properties, was both huge and hard to miss.
Outside the All-Star host venue in New Orleans, the recently named Smoothie King Center, it built a 40,000-square-foot Bud Light District for music and parties.
The space also included a Bud Light ‘Road Safety Photo Booth’ experience and it also served as a site for events hosted by other NBA partners such as TNT and Sprint.
The campaign has been developed with Bud Light’s new creative agency BBDO and is the part of fresh work resulting from parent company Anheuser-Busch’s decision to switch its NBA sponsorship brand from Budweiser to Bud Light at the start of the current season.
‘The NBA is young and multicultural, which is right in Bud Light’s wheelhouse,’ says Blaise D’Sylva, VP of Sports, Media and Entertainment Marketing at Anheuser-Busch. ‘It’s too early to fully track the results of the switch, but I can tell you that the response from our [distribution] system … has been great.’
Comment
With the central YouTube film racking up 1.2m views thus far, it hasn’t captured the public interest to anywhere near the same degree as its Super Bowl launch spot predecessor which boasts more than 18m views to date.
Which fronted a raft of Bud Light Super Bowl reality TV style webfilm, including:
But then ago, few campaigns ever manage to rack up the same numbers as Super Bowl spots do.
Next year the All-Star extravaganza will be held in New York’s ‘The Brooklyn Centre’ – which will see the event blend the biggest market, with its most technically advanced stadium and the tech-savvy sports league in the USA.
A powerful activation combination for NBA sponsors!
Links
Bud Light Campaign Channel
Bud Light Campaign Hashtag
#UpForWhatever
Bud Light Campaign YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7SKJ30SyI&index=5&list=PLW8WDQniSGxQCy1V1M__1xHAQyN4vItVU
Bud Light Website
Bud Light Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BudLight
Bud Light Twitter
