Why Budweiser's World Cup influencer strategy went big
BUDX Doha won in the Large Scale Activation category at The Drum Awards for Experience for its work generating attention during the World Cup. Here's the award-winning case study.
The primary goals for BUDX Doha were to generate earned media and put Budweiser into the center of cultural conversation during the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ by harnessing the world-wide excitement and energy that surrounds the iconic event. Budweiser sought to find and create authentic places within the event landscape, where Budweiser could actively engage top influencers, creators, artists, and designers from around the globe for a once-in-a-lifetime experience around FIFA World Cup™ through one of the most extensive integrated marketing and influencer-focused hospitality programs to date.
Budweiser and its strategic agency partners, Octagon and WINK, brought BUDX Doha to life through its global multi-faceted program, that amplified the euphoric energy around the FIFA World Cup™ and exceeded the goals of establishing a creative cultural program that reinforces the message that BUDX provides a global stage for local creators.
Budweiser invited the top influencers, creators, and tastemakers from the world of sports, fashion, and music to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and strategically leveraged their collective reach as a powerful media platform to maximize Budweiser’s global relevance around the FIFA World Cup™. With a strong focus on cultural conversation and earned media, we invited influencers to give each one a stage to create custom content, collaborate, and share their dreams at one of the biggest cultural moments in the world. These influencers documented their experiences on social media over the 4-day period to show the 500MM fans what it felt like to be on the ground, in the stadiums and at the parties during the FIFA World Cup™.
BUDX Doha was designed to highlight Budweiser’s brand positioning and strategically leverage the reach of key global influencers as a powerful media platform. Budweiser invited 100 of the top influencers, from 18 markets to a once-in-a-lifetime experience around FIFA World Cup™.
To achieve our goals of earned media, we needed to turn the influencer experience into a content vehicle. Everything the influencers touched from start to finish was designed to encourage over posting. The Bud Hotel became a reimagined, content-driven experience featuring X-booth that allowed for edited real-time content, DJ booth, and content creation area in a Budweiser immersed studio and Instagrammable moments at the Budweiser World Club.
Influencers had the chance to enjoy some lively and unique activities to enhance their experience in Qatar. The task was tall, but the solution was simple. Keeping guests' excitement at the heart of each step of the journey, the program provided a perfect blend of complimenting guests’ activities throughout day and night. The curated list of activities included a Qatari desert experience, 2 live FIFA World Cup™ matches, a luxury beach resort, access to the Budweiser World Club & more. During the program, BUDX Doha delivered 8 live performances at the Budweiser World Club with BUDX artists from 6 countries.
Budweiser partnered with renowned global rapper, Lil Baby, to create “The World Is Yours To Take” anthem, which was used as the global campaign soundtrack. While in Doha, Budweiser created the first-ever music video to be filmed at the FIFA World Cup™. We engaged local markers to help identify influencers for selected shots and cameos and featured 21 BUDX influencers in the music video. We expanded global reach by working with the Argentina and Brazil markets to create local versions of Lil Baby’s single. The music video was shot during the 4-day BUDX experience, edited in less than 2 weeks, and ultimately delivered before the final match.