Budweiser is one of the top-selling beer brands in the world. But when it comes to Canada

and its French speaking province of Quebec, Budweiser is under pressure. The reason?

People adore the city’s hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens. An entire team owned by our

competitor, Molson Brewery since 1957, so that their brand could be associated with

everything hockey related.

A consistent 67 years sponsoring strategy, with radio and TV shows, ads and even a stadium

named “Molson center” that embedded the Canadiens-Molson relationship into Quebec’s

culture and hearts. It also blocked every other beer to come near the number one passion of

all Quebec’s inhabitants. How can the King of Beers win back the hearts of Quebecois?

For Budweiser, the King of Beers, to get its crown back from Molson brewery in Quebec,

official owner since 1957 of Quebec number #1 pride, the Montreal Canadiens, we decided

to hijack the only thing Molson couldn’t put their name on: each goal scored by their own

team. In French, “Buuuuuuuut” means “Goaaaaaal”. So, by simply adding a few “u” to our

brand name, we made a giant inception on all hockey fans in Quebec, making them think of

our brand whenever their favorite team was scoring a goal.

In Quebec everybody loves hockey & the nation’s pride: the Montreal’s Canadiens, the

most titled team in NHL’s history with 24 wins. The team has been owned since 1957 by Molson brewery, who have been steadily and heavily investing into the team since.

Molson and the sport Canadiens love the most, are intrinsically linked.

This means it’s hard for Budweiser to get anywhere in the market.

To overcome this and to win hearts in Quebec, we decided to leverage a precise

point at the intersection of the French language, hockey culture and the only thing Molson couldn’t put its name on.

In French, “Buuuuuuuut” means “Goaaaaaal”. So, by simply adding a few “u” to our brand

name, we made an impression on all hockey fans in Quebec, making them think of our

brand whenever their favorite team was scoring a goal. The rest is history.

For the first match of the season of the Montréal Canadiens, live banners with

“Buuuuuuuuud” were on viewers’ screens when the Canadiens scored. In a few minutes, our

initiative went viral, but we didn’t stop there. A giant and massive OOH campaign ran all

over Quebec’s streets to showcase our “Buuuuuud”. We also swapped all Budweiser signs

and merch in hundreds of pubs, while introducing millions of Buuuuuud bottles, cans &

packs all over Quebec supermarkets shelves, turning our existing consumers into our

ambassadors. By being unmissable for three weeks & then during the whole season,

we successfully invaded the place that Molson couldn’t buy for the past 65 years: hockey

fans’ conversations.

A great turnaround in Quebec:

- #1 beer brand in proximity stores

- 98% of Quebec supermarkets involved

- +34,2% brand preference in Quebec

- 15 million impressions (with only 8 million inhabitants in Quebec)

- Most mentioned online brand during the hockey season