In a world that is too full of negativity and seriousness, we brought people two silly words that could be used to celebrate anything: an NFL touchdown, a wedding toast or even just be a friendly greeting. We started with a film which celebrates the friends who bring beer everyone can enjoy together. To make it more memorable, we set the story in a medieval world and added a bit of nonsense. When something good happened people cheered, “Dilly Dilly.” We kept the fun, medieval theme as we created additional films and social content to keep people talking and celebrating together. And hopefully bring just a little more fun to the world.

We launched our first medieval film the Sunday the incredibly popular television show Game of Thrones aired its season finale. We provided fans with gifs/memes they could use to comment on games. People created their own content, t-shirts, hats and costumes. To keep the conversation fresh, we added different Dilly Dilly stories during key events like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Around this time, a craft brewer made a Dilly Dilly IPA which was an infringement on our copyright. So rather than suing, we sent them a friendly cease and desist letter read aloud by a town crier and gave them two tickets to the Super Bowl. A gesture celebrated by law and craft brewer publications alike. Next, we created an epic Dilly Dilly moment at the Super Bowl then went to Philadelphia where we gave everyone in the city free beer and finally showed up at the Masters tournament.

Share of market and conversation

Created growth in market share for the first time in over a year

Created positive trends in consideration

15% increase in positive sentiment online

24% increase in share of social conversation to almost 70% at the expense of key competitors

Impact on audience

Over 61% (152m people) of the U.S. adult population has heard of “Dilly Dilly” (An independent study from Civil Science)

12% (33m people) say the phrase and like it

Users are happier than those who aren’t

Used equally by democrats and republicans

Over four billion earned media impressions

Over one million mentions on social media

1.1 million Google searches per month (at peak)

The most used hashtag at the Super Bowl

Was a top five phrase on the internet in December above, “turnt.”

3,300 PR and news articles

The strategy had two parts: First, get the idea in front of consumers during moments they were sharing with their friends in person and on social so they could help spread our idea. We targeted social drinking occasions with a focus on our NFL sponsorship and other media moments in which people are actively talking on social media . We leveraged our NFL media to seed the Dilly Dilly phrase there and created additional team focused content for friends to use when talking about their teams. At the same time, other high profile media placements and key holidays where friends and families gather like Thanksgiving and Christmas were used to get the idea in culture broadly.

Second, we created a medieval world that was big and flexible enough to do everything including films, product promotions, cease and desist letters and show up at a Super Bowl victory parade.

Bud Light is the largest beer brand in the United States but has been losing market share at an accelerating rate over the last decade as craft beers, wine and spirits have grown in popularity. This shift to “small is good, big is bad” has made Bud Light enemy number one in popular culture and the butt of countless jokes from late night hosts, TV shows and consumers alike. You know you’re in trouble when you constantly are called, “Piss water” on social media. To reinvigorate the brand, we needed to find a way to make drinkers 21-34, the future of the brand, proud to hold Bud Light again. So we set out to put Bud Light back in the cultural conversation in a big, positive way.