During the World Series, Budweiser dominated the commercial airwaves with its catchy Miike Snow ball park spot and its new initiative "Track Your Bud". At TrackyourBud.com, Bud drinkers can find out where and when their Budweiser or Bud Light was brewed by simply punching in the code from their can or bottle. The site serves as a digital brewery tour, first introducing you to the Brewmaster by full name (!!!) and then taking you through the steps of brewing your precious beer from milling to bottling. Each step has facts and a video, mimicking what a real brewery tour would be like.
So, why is this important?!
Yesterday, I watched the documentary The Naked Brand: The Future of Marketing, which features Alex Bogusky and various brands such as Patagonia, Under Armour, Unilever and Pepsi and talks about the need for brands to become more transparent about their products and business practices because the consumer feedback loop is instant. The quality of your product and story behind your brand is now KING when it comes to how consumers make decisions.
As for "the King" of beers, Budweiser's Track Your Bud campaign is an effort to highlight the quality and consistency of the All-American brew. The patriotic bottle is a reminder that Budweiser is America's beer, and now when you take a sip of Bud, you'll also associate it to a brewery within the states not so far away.
I've always been a fan of Bud heavy, and I actually appreciate this campaign because it recognizes Budweiser for what it is--a good 'ole American lager.
The King of Beers is just looking to protect its throne with none else than the King of Hip Hop himself Jay Z. Budweiser's Made In America Fest, promoted and headlined by Jay Z, has an impressive line-up of hip hop, rock and electronic dance artists--my personal favorites Miike Snow, Nicky Romero and Alesso will be there. It's clear Budweiser is making a push to stay relevant among the young multi-cultural artist-types (hipsters is what some call it) and succeeds mainly through its tasteful typography and subdued use of the patriotic red, white and blue. Again, sporting the American flag is very "in".
The "Makers of Tomorrow" television commercial which aired during the Olympics is very Levi's Go Forth, with Jay Z's personal touches like his voiceover about how music brings us together and his Brooklyn Nets baseball cap. If I wasn't already attending Electric Zoo Labor Day weekend, I would have definitely made a stop in Philly for this line-up.
Last night's Super Bowl commercials left me feeling "ehhh"--the way I've felt about Super Bowl ads the past decade. Nothing stood out as the funniest or craziest ad or even very memorable. As expected, Danica Patrick made more bad sex references in Go Daddy commercials, Doritos went the user-generated ad route, eTrade baby is pretty funny and somehow Jerry Seinfeld is still relevant. The most disappointing ad hands-down is Pepsi's Elton John X-factor medieval mess. Seriously, Pepsi went from having Britney, Beyonce and Pink rock gladiator outfits to this? Sad.
There were a few advertisers that delivered strong ads with rather interesting stories. My favorite goes to Bridgestone's "Performance Football and Basketball" spots, a follow up to the Bridgestone's "Performance Balls and Puck" commercial that debuted during the Winter Classic in January. I also admire Chevy's use of Rob Dyrdek and OK GO in the Sonic "Stunt Anthem" spot; Chevy really went all out in pulling off these crazy car stunts and the effort is noted. Bud Light Platinum managed to make its new product feel sexy through music, using Kanye's Runaway track and Levels' DJAvicii's unexpected cameo. Again, effort noted. I particularly liked Budweiser's America through time in"Eternal Optimism", mainly because it referenced the 1980 Winter Olympics "Miracle on Ice". Instant winner.
Like Budweiser, Chrysler also played off the sentiment of "America" in it's Gran Torino 2 "Halftime" spot (wait.. you're telling me Gran Torino is not even a Chrysler car?). The spot featured Clint Eastwood being Clint Eastwood--it was serious and attention grabbing, and for a second I felt patriotic until the next ad with a moon-walking dog snapped me out of it.
This year's ads were slightly better than lasts, so I'm hopeful that next year we'll be see brands take their ads back to Super Bowl levels of epicness.
