Budweiser, one of the best-selling beer brands in the U.S., wanted to "win" the Super Bowl by creating the most popular ad. To get started, it turned to Google's BrandLab for coaching on consumer insights and advertising trends around the big game. Based on what it learned, Budweiser executed a digital strategy that involved releasing and promoting its "Puppy Love" spot on YouTube six days before the actual Super Bowl. In the end, Budweiser scored big time, winning more than 50M views—and the accolade for the #1 ad of the 2014 Super Bowl.
Goals
Win the Super Bowl by stealing the highest share of voice
Approach
Attended Google's BrandLab with its media agency, Starcom and creative agency, Anomaly to learn about digital advertising and how TV and digital could work together around the Super Bowl
Created an ad that tapped into people's emotions
Released and promoted the spot on YouTube six days before the Super Bowl to generate buzz, based on its learnings from BrandLab
Designed a media strategy with Starcom that created buzz with TV and YouTube to build top ranks with organic search volume, based on its learnings from BrandLab
Results
#1 ad of the 2014 Super Bowl, with 50M+ video views
80% earned views, not paid
#1 brand on January's YouTube Ads Leaderboard and Ad Blitz
