To kick off the early September start to the 2018/19 NFL season, Miller Lite linked up with legendary player and brand ambassador Jason Witten to surprise committed Dallas Cowboys football fans by delivering beer to their homes.
The campaign, created by agency DDB Chicago, leverages Miller Lite’s status as ‘the Only Beer’ of the Dallas Cowboys.
The season opener marketing stunt saw the former Cowboys tight end and current Monday Night Football ESPN commentator surprise three different sets of supporters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on a Sunday during the pre-season.
The stunt was amplified via a video centred around the fans’ surprise reactions to Witten’s arrival: one group ran a football play with him, while another delightfully exclaimed “oh my gosh, we just drank a Miller Lite with Jason Witten.”
The core season-opening spot is supported by an additional set of football-themed marketing content pieces running across the brand’s social channels: including on Instagram,
Facebook and Twitter (including team-specific initiatives with Miller Lite partner franchises such as the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles).
#Eagles fans can take the @SEPTAPHILLY Broad Street Line to #ATLvsPHI tomorrow for FREE from 4 PM to midnight thanks to @MillerLite Free Rides! pic.twitter.com/dKEt7Sa7ve
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 5, 2018
A little something for all fans in attendance tonight, courtesy of @MillerLite.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/qqZIbMZmtX
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 7, 2018
“Miller Lite believes in celebrating and rewarding fans because not only are we football fans at heart, but we’ve enjoyed almost 30 years as the official beer of Dallas football,” said Anup Shah, VP of Miller Family of Brands.
“We chose loyal fans who hold true to their love of the game, their team and their beer. When Jason Witten arrived at their door in his Miller Lite gear to surprise them with ice cold beers, the reactions were priceless.”
“This was a perfect way to kick off the season,” commented Witten himself.
“For me, it’s always been about the fans. They deserve to be celebrated, so when Miller Lite offered me the chance to surprise some of the most loyal Dallas football fans, I couldn’t turn it down. Plus, I got to enjoy a couple of Miller Lites along the way.”
Comment:
Compared to much of the marketing hype around the new NFL season, think Nike and NBC, this somewhat low key local initiative works partly because whilst the fans knew they were being filmed for a Miller marketing initiative, they had no idea that Witten would be coming to their homes.
So the surprise and delight on their faces is authentic.
Links:
Miller Lite
https://www.youtube.com/user/MillerLite
https://www.facebook.com/millerlite
https://twitter.com/millerlite
https://www.instagram.com/millerlite/
DDB Chicago
