As the biggest hockey fans in the beer category, Budweiser set out to own hockey’s most celebrated moment, Canada’s goals. We turned the entire country into a Gold-Synced nation by turning our iconic wi-fi enabled Red Goal Light to gold. It was a fully functioning goal light that was synced to go off every time Canada scored, and we made it available online for purchase.

Budweiser rallied the entire nation to back our country with our brand and Gold Light product at the heart of it all. Every piece of communication in our arsenal was used to make goal celebrations even bigger. “Let it Shine” literally connected the Budweiser brand with the best moments in Canadian hockey.

A hockey tournament this big gets every brand talking at the same time. To cut through the clutter, a full three weeks before the first puck drop we leaked a spot that introduced the Gold-Synced Lights to Canada. We used the power of Canadian hockey stars like Wayne Gretzky to star in and share the spot with our country. A cut-down version also aired during the Super Bowl when viewership was at an all-time high.

When then launched an e-commerce site and social campaign allowing consumers to purchase our limited edition Gold-Synced Lights to arrive just before the games. Within a matter of weeks, thousands of Gold-Synced Lights were in the hands of hockey fans.

Then we celebrated Canada’s goals, turning every piece of media we had gold, from OOH, social feeds, in-bar activations, Uber orders, and even a custom gold suit for Canada’s most outspoken broadcaster, Don Cherry.

KPIs:

• Objective: Over 50MM earned impressions

• Result: This campaign drove an outstanding 78MM impressions (in a country with a 36MM population), at a time where many brands were competing for attention.

• Objective: Raise the bar with a commercial media-neutral idea that breaks through to own the incremental occasions (+1/week)

• Result: Our Budweiser anthem was ranked #1 on the YouTube Canada leaderboard, which is determined algorithmically factoring in views, audience engagement, and audience retention. (http://stimulantonline.ca/2018/03/27/which-canadian-ads-caught-youtubes-eye/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=which-canadian-ads-caught-youtubes-eye&_u=4ToUNFUbtBo%3d)

• Objective: Sell $500,000 worth of Gold-Synced Goal Lights.

• Result: In only two weeks, we sold over $700,000 worth of Limited Edition Wayne Gretzky Gold-Synced Lights, all while rallying an entire nation to back our country with the Gold Light at the heart of it all.