Budweiser asked ourselves, as the biggest hockey fan, what could we do to make the game even better for fans? We could make the goal celebrations even bigger. So we set out to own and elevate hockey’s most electrifying and celebrated moment, the goal. We would turn our product into media and own the game of hockey with every beer sold.

The Idea: A Goal-Synced Beer Glass.

We took the most iconic symbol for goals and celebration, the red goal light, as our inspiration and developed a goal-synced beer glass that lit up with every goal scored by Canada. The glass linked to the Red Light App where customers could choose their favourite city. We then gave these beer glasses away for free inside of every case of Budweiser sold. We armed the country with a powerful tool to celebrate hockey goals, with our brand and product at the heart.

Weeks before the first game of the year, we introduced consumers to the new Budweiser Red Light glass with a hard hitting TV spot, driving awareness of the glass and the celebrations to come. When consumers purchased a case of Budweiser they found a free Goal-Synced Glass inside. Before the first game was even played, we had over 500,000 glasses in the hands of fans ready to celebrate. Our media dollars then shifted from TV to social to drive awareness of the glass, but really nothing was more powerful than the glass itself. They began popping up in bars, restaurants, and living rooms. The glasses became free ambient media and from the first puck drop, with Budweiser’s help, every goal Canada scored turned into a massive celebration with Budweiser at the heart of it.

Demand

In three weeks we had over 500,000 Goal-Synced Glasses activated in the market, which trended the Red Light app to the top spot on the Apple Store. Glasses began appearing on eBay for upwards of $100, a 95% price increase from Budweiser’s cost to manufacture them.

KPIs:

Objective: Statistical increase Past 4 week consumption and Top 3 Favorite brands vs. YAGO

Result: Delivered statistical significant P4W growth (+2.2pts. vs. LY). Delivered statistical significant T3F growth (+0.9pts. vs. LY)

Objective: Grow market share – promo period vs. YAGO

Result: Grew share of segment (+0.28 pts. vs. LY) at expense of key competitors

Objective: Highest-ever PR impressions for a Budweiser hockey campaign

Result: This campaign drove outstanding 95MM impressions (in a country with a 36MM population), successfully making this the highest ever-earned reach for a Budweiser hockey campaign