The Washington Nationals were not the only World Series winner. Bud Light also won big.
In the blink of an eye, Bud Light enjoyed $7.2 million in media value because of a baseball fan named Jeff Adams. If you followed the World Series, you might know something about his rapid rise to internet fame. You might have even replayed (several times) the moment that went viral on social media, when Adams took a home run ball to the chest in order to save two Bud Light beers he was holding. What happened next was nearly as impressive as Adams’s toughness: Bud Light moved with lightning speed to seize upon the marketing opportunity.
Within minutes, Bud Light turned footage of the moment into a marketing opportunity on Twitter, which is still pinned to Bud Light’s Twitter account as of this writing, earning more than 18,500 retweets, 2,300+ comments, and 107,000+ likes:
This man is a hero. Twitter please figure out who this guy is so we can reward him. #WorldSeries https://t.co/suMtVECfXY
— Bud Light (@budlight) October 28, 2019
Bud Light didn’t stop there. Creating a win-win for Adams and Bud Light, the company paid for him to Attend Game 6 in Houston (where he was treated like a conquering hero) – and clothed him in a customized T-shirt emblazoned with an image of Adams during the moment of impact and the catch phrase “Always Save the Beers.”
As reported in USA Today, this marketing gesture garnered Bud Light more than $7.2 million in media value. In addition, Bud Light further maximized value from Adams’s moment of glory with a simple commercial that ran during the game, replaying the celebrated moment in slow motion with a simple text overlay reading, “Not all heroes wear capes.”
Bud Light’s marketing response to this unexpected viral moment was perfectly played. The brand’s actions were immediate and effective. Bud Light generated free advertising by ensuring the company’s “hero” attended Game 6 wearing a quickly mocked-up T-shirt seen worldwide and rolled out a simple ad, striking while the iron was hot – not to mention the opportunistic use of Twitter.
As marketers we can all learn from Bud Light: timing is everything. When an opportunity arises like this one, it’s more important to be agile than perfect. Don’t worry about creating the perfect ad or the perfect T-shirt. Settle on an approach that represents your brand well and get it in market – FAST!
You never know when your viral moment will hit. Do you have a strategy in place to take full advantage of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Is your marketing team empowered to act quickly when a fleeting, real-time branding opportunity arises? Based on the speed with which Bud Light acted, clearly the company prepares for moments like this. How about you?
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