Budweiser, the Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup, has unveiled its new global campaign – “Light Up the FIFA World Cup” – including the distribution of eight million noise-activated Red Light Cups, which light up in response to fan cheering, and a variety of integrated experiential, digital and social programs launching in more than 50 countries.
“As the most watched sporting event on the planet, the FIFA World Cup is the ultimate opportunity for Budweiser, the world’s most enjoyed beer, to connect with billions of passionate football fans globally. Our campaign is the largest in our company’s history, and it demonstrates how we are bringing together fans from around the world over beer and their shared passion for football,” said Miguel Patricio, CMO, Anheuser-Busch InBev. “Our campaign captures the celebratory, upbeat and premium experience of the Budweiser brand and fans will continue to see this come to life through our ongoing activations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”
Global advertising campaign
Budweiser’s global advertising campaign, “Light Up the FIFA World Cup,” highlights the most ambitious beer delivery ever through a variety of creative executions, including 15, 30 and 90-second ads, that show how Budweiser is upping the energy levels of fan’s football celebrations worldwide as the Official Beer of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The commercial spotlights the journey of thousands of drones as they carry Budweiser from the St Louis brewery and head for Moscow with the ultimate goal of delivering a stadium full of fans with their very own Budweiser. The spot culminates with fan cheers activating Budweiser’s Red Light Cups throughout the stadium, showing the energy and excitement of fans at the FIFA World Cup.
The advertising campaign will run in more than 50 countries around the world, across television and digital channels. Fans are encouraged to engage with the “Light Up the FIFA World Cup” campaign through Budweiser social channels.
Red light cups
The star of the “Light Up the FIFA World Cup” campaign is the Budweiser Red Light Cup, which responds to the euphoric energy of fans watching the tournament. The Budweiser Red Light Cups will be noise-activated, lighting up to visibly display fans’ excitement and energy with increased frequency as their cheering and clapping gets louder to match the action on the pitch.
More than eight million cups will light up in 50+ countries throughout the tournament. For fans in Russia, every beer purchased at official 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums will be served in a Red Light Cup, and for fans around the world, the Red Light Cups will be featured at each of Budweiser’s global viewing parties and events and available with purchase of special Budweiser packs. There will be more than 70 variations of the cup, including cups for every match throughout the tournament and in a variety of languages.
The Australian connection
A Melbourne company – Buzz Connect – is behind Budweiser’s light-up marketing.
In January, Buzz Connect created Bud Light beer cups for Super Bowl 2018.
Around 80,000 beer cups were distributed to fans in the stadium and at select “watch” parties in the US.
The “Touchdown Glasses” lit up and flashed in team colours every time they score. They also lit up when the teams enter the stadium, for field goals and touchdowns. The cups were programmed to light up blue for Patriots scores and green for Eagles scores. After the game, fans can then take their cups home and they will continue to work for upcoming seasons via Bluetooth.
Buzz Connect kicked off in Melbourne 18 years ago and now has offices in Los Angeles, London, Milan, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai.
The Budweiser deal netted around $500,000 for the business.
