Power of Bringing Friends Together

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Mark Gallo

Nothing will replicate the camaraderie among friends while watching a live sporting. Passion, tension and all other emotions run wild. In a group dynamic a bond exists that is difficult to express. And yet it is there. Undeniably present and unshakable.

In a recent build up to the UEFA Championship game, Heineken sought to remove watching the match in isolation, which they stated happened 70% of the time. They rigged seats in an open park with motion sensors. With height or a body in the seat, a portion of the screen was lit up. All seats need to be filled in order to view the full screen.

Besides sports, the next best option to bring people together: you guessed it: BEER.

View the execution here:

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Tooth Opener

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Mark Gallo

Injuries occur in sports. The game of rugby provides some vicious collision including those that break or jaw loose a tooth. The Salta beer brand continues to build on their Rugby sponsorship platform. In a head scratching ad, players with missing teeth receive a non normal tooth implant.  The replacement tooth is actually bottle opener.

Besides given players back a full smile, Salta gave players a “viral” way to open beer bottles. Surely recipients of a bottle opened using a tooth will never forget the moment.

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This beer literally will open your door.

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Mark Gallo

In the sports apparel business, Under Armour had used the tag line “Protect This House.” Building on the theme, Heineken has created a device that ensures guests coming over to your house enter with the correct beer. Below is the Door lock, a connected lock that opens when reading a particular beer label. This clever idea is shown to help reinforce the partnership/sponsorship between Heineken and UEFA Champions League. In addition the door lock should help promote the social side of beer.

Ideas for other beer brands to possibly take advantage of:

1) Access into VIP suites or seating areas in stadiums where their are partnerships/sponsorship

2) Access granted for meet and greets with celebrities, athletes or even trophy’s

The end goal of all marketing & advertising would be to sell more and this Heineken Door lock has a small chance to accomplish that. The largest upside is its worth in social media sharing, brand reinforcement and overall buzz for Heineken. Now a days, if the content is not shared via social media channels it’s like it never happened.

Heineken-Door-Lock

door lock

 

 

 

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Clydesdale Ride Home

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Mark Gallo

With the Holidays upon us, Budweiser has been in the news with their recent marketing “Noise” of needing to reach millennials and potential usage declines of the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales in its messaging.  The brand has turned back the clock on its packaging and returned to the retro look. In a special release, they have packaged beer and glassware in a wooden crate for the holidays. In  2015, Budweiser is said to target more food led event/occasions.

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With friends celebrating friendships & stories at parties or bars, the extremely popular ride sharing services Uber and Lyft are primed for high demand. To the surprise of some recent users, Budweiser teamed up with Lyft to give passengers the ride home of a life time: On the Budweiser Clydesdale hitch.

It is said marketing campaigns these days are the experiences a brand can deliver. The surprised millennials encountered the icon Clydesdales in a relevant way. Icon brands always find a way to reinvent themselves and stay true to their roots.

 

 

 

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Tennis silence is rewarded by this beer brand

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Mark Gallo

As sports sponsorships evolve, so will their creative activations. Logo rights are no longer the main focus, but it is how you bring your brand to life around your sponsorship. Heineken’s public “Umpire Chair Silence Challenge” strengthens its partnership with the US OPEN. The brand comes alive by highlighting and creating an experience to “Silence” a crowd. It is a unique aspect of the sport which few master. In their marketing stunt, the reward for success is tickets to the US OPEN.

Brands are extensions and should be touched, experienced, felt and consumed by fans. Those brands such as Heineken who form bonds and lasting memories will capture share of throat.

Cheers to BEER.

 

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Real Hockey is played on the streets

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Mark Gallo

With the momentum of the NHL playoffs, Budweiser Canada released a timely viral video that should hit home with hockey enthusiasts.

Building on their successful red light helmet concept along with their guerrilla marketing red light blimp for team Canada during the winter Olympics, the brand once again is making a relevant connection with hockey fans in Canada. Hockey is a cultural passion like Futbol is in Brazil and MLB is in the USA. At early ages, kids live out their dreams, reenact their favorite moments and most of all, develop their skills. These are done not on traditional fields, but the streets they live on.

A street in Canada was named by is residents “Hockey Street.” The Budweiser brand helped give the street the recognition it deserved and demonstrated the brands promise and commitment to hockey – even without an expensive league sponsorship.

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Interactive Sports Giveaway from Budweiser

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Mark Gallo

Sports teams are always reaching out to partners for help with giveaway items. Most notably are rally towels and shirts. For the brands, they simply gain exposure with their logo pressed onto the collateral. It is a pretty basic and not a whole lot of value.

Budweiser went the extra mile with their Red Light Helmet activation at a recent Calgary Flames NHL game. After watching the video below, you can tell Budweiser enhanced a triumphant moment with fans and celebrated a bonding experience that was important to them, their home team scoring a goal. Their passion was worn on their faces and heads. With the help of the Budweiser Red Light Helmet, the brand was able to break through the cluster of ordinary and customary team giveaways.

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Pop Up Night Club

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Mark Gallo

Parties attract crowds and Coors Light did just that. Quoting Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.” With the help of a flash mob, #CoorsLight built a pop up night club inside a Las Vegas casino floor. In Vegas, it is hard to stand out amongst all the brands activating samplings/events trying to earn the attention of consumers. Especially in nightclubs which are usually dominated by Champagne and liquor companies.

This nightclub guerrilla marketing campaign was remarkable. The brand brought to life a club with no traditional walls. Coors Light owned the space, atmosphere and was easily identified in the hands of party goers. This unexpected interruption helped the brand reposition itself as a viable choice for club goers. The distraction was a pleasant surprise for onlookers. This relevant content should help shape future consumption habits.

Create your own space, create your own rules and people will notice.

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Budweiser Jukebox – Bottle cap operated

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Mark Gallo

Anheuser-Busch  & Budweiser have made recent headline news here in the states with their focus on reaching millennials through music. The Budweiser brand will continue its Made in America concert, switching out Jay Z for his wife Beyonce as the headliner this year. For a full list of artists, click here.

As a global brand, Budweiser must come alive and connect with consumers in a consistent experience, which happens to be music. This platform can be adapted for local market activation to bring people together and provide “Great Times.”

Below is a clever campaign from Budweiser Argentina that captures on premise consumers at a primary point of purchase, a bar. Here, the brand chose 1 of the most interactive real estate items in the bar, the Jukebox and cultivated emotional connections with patrons. For each Budweiser sold, consumers redeemed the specific brand bottle cap for their choice in tunes. No other brand’s bottle cap would suffice, which helped increase Bud sales and sampling by 20%.

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Recycled beer cans turned into Rugby spikes

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Mark Gallo

Below is a remarkable recycling campaign that helped the Salta beer brand infiltrate every local rugby club without having to sign a sponsorship contract all while helping protect the environment by promoting & encouraging  recycling.

Salta successfully built a compelling reason for fans to recycle their beer cans. Eventually those rugby players who chose to recycle could feel a functional benefit to their actions. Beer cans were melted, molded and turned into spikes for their rugby cleats. This creative execution once again reinforced the brand’s identity and assimilation in the rugby community.

Could one day in the future we see a UFC cage made from recycled Bud Light cans? What else can you come up with?

Check the video before for the astonishing results.

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