To make an impact in the New York City market at a time when the world was starting to reopen, Budweiser launched an integrated marketing campaign that combined innovative product packaging, super-relevant celebrity engagement, in-person events, iconic music and a tailored earned media approach to spark earned conversation and drive sales to compete in a key beer market for the brand.

Brooklyn is home to some of hip-hop's biggest legends and one of Budweiser’s biggest markets in the country; however, the beer market in Brooklyn is fiercely competitive and Budweiser was losing sales volume. We needed to figure out how we could authentically drive local relevance and win back local drinkers. Tapping into our established relationship with the hip-hop community, we chose to celebrate Brooklyn’s hip hop icon, Biggie Smalls. We worked closely with Biggie’s estate to create a larger-than-life campaign celebrating his legacy. The creative inspiration for the campaign began with a can design that we blew out into every element of our 360 campaign, with media engagement, influencer kits, point of sale and a concert experience, seamlessly blending the worlds of Budweiser and Biggie. Our local campaign turned into a national story, drove a sales life of 9.5 percent, and reestablished Budweiser in Brooklyn by honoring its hometown hero.

Acknowledging the main KPI of this campaign (to increase brand affinity and sales lift in our NYC region) we knew we needed a creative idea that would resonate with the unique culture of Brooklyn, which has rich ties to hip-hop culture that transcend the music genre itself. Through research and ideation, and building on Budweiser’s platform of celebrating America’s hip hop legends across the country, we determined that the best way to tap into the culture in a way that tied it to our brand was by tethering the King of Beers to the King of Hip-Hop, Biggie Smalls. To do so, we launched a two-pronged approach including the release of a new can with design elements inspired by Biggie’s iconic career. An in-person concert then brought together top artists inspired by Biggie’s legacy, his biggest fans and key media to celebrate Bud and Biggie.

The King of Beers teamed up with the King of New York, working closely with Biggie’s estate to create a larger-than-life campaign that served as a visual homage to his legacy.

First, Budweiser created Biggie cans that would be available in-market. In curating the can designs and program assets, the team looked to key visual components that represented his iconic career and pieces that would resonate most seamlessly with the Brooklyn community, including his iconic image, famous lyrics, and the Brooklyn skyline.

In addition, the team embraced Brooklyn’s love of music and the renewed opportunity for outdoor events by organizing a tribute concert in the heart of the city that would bring together Biggie’s closest friends and family members, current hip hop artists who can attribute their original passion for hip hop to Biggie’s music, music and lifestyle media and general consumers excited to celebrate their local legend.

The team executed a two-pronged media strategy, starting with the launch of The Notorious B.I.G. Tall Boy cans. In outreach to food & bev, fashion, lifestyle, music, national and local New York media outlets, the team highlighted design elements of the can to elevate the nods toward Biggie’s career and leaned into their limited availability to build anticipation and excitement. The team also secured a quote from Biggie’s mother herself, stating that her son would be proud to be on a Budweiser can, which was used in media outreach.

In addition, the team announced Budweiser’s concert in Prospect Park in Brooklyn honoring Biggie’s legacy, with popular artists and friends of Biggie’s, including Lil’ Kim, The Lox and Busta Rhymes to generate buzz and drive attendance. By offering onsite interviews with participating artists, media were able to get a first-hand look into the impact Biggie Smalls had on their careers.

Not only did Budweiser re-establish itself in Brooklyn and reverse sales trends with a +9.5% volume uplift and a 99%+ increase in positive consumer sentiment toward the brand, the rest of the world took notice, too. In total, the campaign generated more than 288 stories and 1.1 billion earned impressions, including placements across local New York media and in key music and lifestyle outlets including Maxim, Hip Hop, Wired, Esquire, Complex, New York Daily News and iHeart Radio. On social media, the activation resulted in 56.5K social mentions, and over 20,000 concert attendees demonstrated just how relevant Biggie remains to the people and the culture of Brooklyn.