In the first week of August, leveraging the 2021 Pro Football Hall Of Fame enshrinement ceremony, Michelob Ultra unveiled specialty tap handles featuring mini busts of a smiling Peyton Manning.
The beer brand honoured its athlete endorser through a miniature, smiling bust of Manning which doubles as a tap handle: the idea is to echo the familiar happiness which the former Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos star so often showed on and off the field.
This message also links to Michelob Ultra’s brand slogan; “It’s only worth it if you enjoy it.”
The Anheuser-Busch brand’s lighthearted stunt is a tribute to the legendary Quarterback (and athlete ambassador)’s induction into the Hall Of Fame and the beer tap handles appeared in participating bars in New Orleans, Knoxville and Indianapolis (each a city to which Manning has a special tie: his hometown, his college town and the town in which he played most of his professional career).
The brewer rolled out an online video across its own platforms to show the creation of the tap handles as an introduction to the campaign.
It also gave a select number of taps to those fans who comment on its social post with their favourite memories of Manning.
It’s odd that commemorative busts are never smiling. Even Peyton’s, and he’s always enjoying himself. So we made him a second one. Want one? Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/cBE1M1rE1J
— Michelob ULTRA (@MichelobULTRA) August 6, 2021
We noticed something about Peyton’s new bust and are doing something to fix it. Can you guess what it is? pic.twitter.com/0Vl256T6gF
— Michelob ULTRA (@MichelobULTRA) August 5, 2021
We have a few extra Peyton tap handles on our hands…help us celebrate his induction by commenting below with your favorite Peyton memory and we might send you one. pic.twitter.com/HWheJCSIA8
— Michelob ULTRA (@MichelobULTRA) August 8, 2021
The social strand seeks to further widen Michelob Ultra’s reach by encouraging football fans and Manning supporters to comment on the brand’s social post with their favourite memories of the player in order to drive viral spread and get the topic trending.
The campaign, which kicked off on 6 August and was developed with agency Wieden+Kennedy New York, was inspired by the typically stoic and serious player busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So these somewhat ‘goofy’ beer tap handles offer a lighter, approachable side to marketing around competitive sports: a tactic and theme increasingly employed by Michelob Ultra.
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This tactic sees Michelob Ultra continue its inventive marketing approach linking notions and messages about health and wellness to sport by leveraging spiking interest around a tentpole sporting event – in this case the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony.
Another recent example saw the brewer leverage Tokyo 2020 by teaming up with Usain Bolt to help pay for fans’ post-workout beers: an approach which enabled the brand to leverage to Olympics without having to pay the hefty ad rates of official Tokyo 2020 US broadcaster NBCUniversal.
What’s @usainbolt pointing at? Wrong answers only. Best tweet might get a surprise #ULTRABeerRun pic.twitter.com/TXHMA3zqxJ
— Michelob ULTRA (@MichelobULTRA) July 26, 2021
While the quirky merchandise linked to consumer-created social media is an increasingly typically way Michelob Ultra uses to build stronger relationships with consumers.
The ‘Hall of Fame’ enshrinement ceremony is televised live in the USDA and includes new member inductions and an exhibition game called the Hall of Fame Game played between two NFL teams.
This year’s event carries extra significance as the class of 2020 will also be inducted on the night as last year’s ceremony was cancelled due to the pandemic.
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