We talk about ‘going viral’ in this industry but it’s not often one tweet changes the perspective of a brand partnership. A restriction banning alcohol only 48 hours before kickoff forced Budweiser to pivot on a plan years in the making. One social interaction changed the narrative around the partnership completely, resulting in consumer and media sentiment shifting from negative to positive and changed the course of Budweiser’s World Cup campaign in a way which would go on to be heralded as one of the most agile and impressive marketing responses to a moment in time the industry had seen.

A restriction banning alcohol only 48 hours before the World Cup kicked off shocked the world. For Budweiser, this left them in an awkward situation with warehouses full of beer sitting in Qatar set to go to waste.

Budweiser knew they had one opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive but they had to react fast. Consumers were waiting for their response and crying out to understand how they could get their beloved beers in the desert. The brand needed to capture the reality of the situation in a way which would resonate with fans globally and share their frustration. For a tournament surrounded in controversy, this was the opportunity for Budweiser to have positive relevance as a sponsor, fuelling the conversation in a way which would increase their own share of voice.

Sometimes the best ideas can be born in a split second. No planning, no back and forth, no game plan for what happens next. Because sometimes, the best idea is to react. React in the most human way to a real moment.

Four words. 17 letters. Well This Is Awkward. One Twitter post expressing a relatable sentiment in a challenging situation as a sponsor. Keeping the messaging simple and empathetic, we took advantage of Twitter being the ultimate real-time platform, reacting at the same time consumers were seeing the situation unfold.

We captured the zeitgeist and, being picked up by everyone from global media to TikTok influencers, laid the foundations for a fresh World Cup campaign (#BringHomeTheBud). Allowing fans and Budweiser to change a worst case scenario into an opportunity to talk about the importance of beer at football, and why Budweiser is the beer of choice in social occasions.

This was led by instinct, not strategy. Football and beer. Beer and football. The two are so synonymous with eachother, a restriction banning alcohol at the World Cup caused uproar. And let’s face it, as the official beer partner of FIFA, the whole thing was all a bit awkward.

But, let’s not do ourselves a disservice. There was some strategic thinking involved. We knew we had to react because the world was waiting for a response. We knew the obvious response would be corporate so in an unprecedented situation, the unexpected might be the realist.

Focusing on Twitter enabled us to take advantage of the real-time strength of the platform and “trending” functionality quickly pushing viral, globally relevant moments to the top of feeds. Use of the platform enabled a positive ‘pile on’ from consumers while immediately alerting the world’s media to a human reaction that chimed with the audience.

Like Oreo’s Superbowl blackout tweet, this was a real-world moment that was reacted to in real-time with the now infamous “Well, this is awkward…” tweet.

As rumours of the ban spread globally, fans waited for an official FIFA statement confirming what no-one wanted to hear. Rather than waiting for the corporate statement, Budweiser wanted to have their say in the most human way possible. The tweet was published 15 minutes before the statement, fuelling the fire for what followed - allowing for a pivotal moment that took Budweiser from blood sponsor to a brand standing side by side with fans around the world equally as frustrated with FIFA.

The drama continued to unfold and with legal caution advised, 47 minutes later the tweet was deleted leading to a second spike in conversation as speculation started as to why Budweiser had removed the post.

In the 47 minutes the tweet was live, it got 800k impressions, 4.5k retweets, 20.2k likes, 25M+ impressions and pushed Budweiser to the #2 trending topic in the world. The ripple effect was huge with an organic earned media reach of 10.2bn across online and broadcast.

Positive sentiment towards Budweiser went from 86% to 99%, dropping no lower than 97% for the remainder of the tournament with fans supporting the brand POV and spreading the message further.

The tweet changed the course of Budweiser’s World Cup campaign, kickstarting #BringHomeTheBud and contributing to Budweiser gaining the highest SOW (70%) of all sponsor related conversation during the tournament.

It became a question on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, with Jimmy Carr asking his guests ‘what did Budweiser tweet when there was a beer ban before the World Cup’. All teams got it right - which tells you everything!