Going into the FIFA World Cup, Budweiser understood that to break through the noise of one of the largest sporting events in the world, the earned media strategy needed to stand out. A restriction banning alcohol established only 48 hours before kickoff forced the brand to pivot on a plan years in the making and instead provide the winning country with an offer unlike any other - the opportunity to Bring Home the Bud. Beyond traditional PR efforts, Budweiser took on a new tactical approach that successfully generated buzz to make the brand the most mentioned brand of the tournament

Budweiser as a brand has always been synonymous with the World Cup - having been an official sponsor since 1986. And beer has always been synonymous with the fan experience and celebrations surrounding the game even longer. Much to our surprise, two days before the Cup kick-off, beer was banned from being sold to fans in- and around the stadiums in Qatar.

With that, Budweiser was left with a warehouse full of beer that could not be sold. And a global marketing and experiential plan, four years in the making, completely turned on its head.

We couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. So we flipped the script and announced that we'd give away all of the would-be World Cup beer to whichever country won the Cup. It wasn't just about re-mobilizing a behemoth plan and global organization. But also about galvanizing fans around a new movement called #BringHomeTheBud

The internet and news media went into a frenzy as the word spread that beer was going to be banned at the World Cup in Qatar. With a simple tweet acknowledging the “awkwardness” of the situation, we made our first move. Shortly after, we followed up to announce that we were giving away all of the World Cup Budweisers to the winning country.

We needed to make sure that beer (and ultimately the Budweiser brand) would not only be at the center of the conversation but also be an integral part of the celebration. Little did we know that one simple tweet would start a global fan movement for free beer called #BringHomeTheBud.

Throughout the tournament we fanned the flames by encouraging the fans to not only cheer for their teams but to will home the biggest victory celebration the world has ever seen.

At the heart of Budweiser’s campaign was the encouragement to seize opportunities for greatness and, like the players approaching their competitors on the pitch, walk through your tunnel to overcome whatever hesitations are in the way. The brand listened to its advice, successfully inspiring fans to pursue their dreams by taking over the FIFA World Cup conversation with an effective last-minute shift.

The PR team leveraged the voices of key talent to make a splash in earned media, including star footballers Lionel Messi and Raheem Sterling, Grammy-award-winning musician Lil Baby and popular influencers from around the world. What started out as Budweiser’s largest initiative to date, being run in over 70 countries, was quickly turned on its head as the PR team pivoted to support the new Bring Home the Bud program. Entirely new messaging was developed to give consumers a rallying cry as they cheered on their country.

Budweiser’s Bring Home The Bud campaign was a monumental success due to the agility possessed by the brand’s internal key decision-makers and agency partners. The teams tirelessly collaborated throughout the six-week tournament to develop the new plan from the ground up, including finalizing messaging for the new approach, ironing out logistics for the celebration party and overseeing the delivery of 12 mysterious red shipping containers with the new campaign hashtag to high-traffic locations in eight countries around the world.

Once Argentina and France were confirmed for the final match, the team developed two distinct plans in preparation for either outcome. The brand watched the final match with bated breath as Argentina clinched the title after a round of penalty kicks. In the days following, the team in Argentina quickly finalized event logistics for multiple Budweiser-hosted victory celebrations across the country attended by more than 80,000 legal drinking-age fans.

Even though our plans changed so quickly, the results were immediately astounding, exceeding all of our objectives while putting Budweiser at the center of the conversation.

Communication Objective: it became a cultural movement, driving brand fame and resonance with young LDA adults:

Media coverage was truly momentous and widespread globally: everyone from ESPN to Sky Sports, The Guardian, and NPR took part in the conversation. SNL did a skit about it. One Argentine fan even got a tattoo of it. And scores of Ecuadorian fans even chanted for it during their Cup match.

225B Impressions, 1MM+ Social Mentions, $400M in Earned Media, #1 Share of Voice making up over 70% of all mentions amongst other sponsors.

Budweiser has been a sponsor of the World Cup since 1986. You’d think most major decisions like the one made in Qatar we’d have advanced warnings or rumblings. But we were taken by complete surprise. On top of that, mobilizing a behemoth brand (and its marketing, trade, and on-premise partners) across 70 different countries in the matter of days is nearly next to impossible.

Furthermore, Budweiser was able to not only make the most of the situation but was also able to stem the negative backlash leading up to the event over perceived price gouging on beer. Noting that it’s the only beer served at WC events.

We also took a bold risk understanding that some of the potential winning countries lawfully couldn't ultimately distribute Budweiser physically or in advertising either. Thankfully the Buds found their home in Argentina. An inherently soccer-obsessed culture that made the win that much sweeter.