Anheuser-Busch?s Bud Light brand is prompting consumers to take advantage of summertime happy hours by offering an incentive to kick back and relax, enabling fans to participate in a mobile-optimized sweepstakes for the chance to win branded merchandise and a trip to the Bud Light Convention.

Bud Light?s Rally for Happy Hour sweepstakes, which is powered by HelloWorld, seeks to convince more individuals to put up their out of office memos and enjoy a cold beer with colleagues after work. Contest participants can enter by inputting their personal information on BudLightHappyHour.com and by uploading posts to social media via the campaign hashtags for additional chances to win.

?Instant gratification is important to millennials, as is identifying causes and social missions to get behind,? said Janice Pollard, content and public relations director at HelloWorld. ?Rally for Happy Hour gives this target audience over 400 chances to win instantly just for registering and playing through the experience.?

Uncapping summer incentives
Bud Light is expanding upon its millennial-focused promotional efforts ? which included a viral Super Bowl spot starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen ? with the rollout of the Rally for Happy Hour campaign.

The beer marketer seeks to give consumers an added incentive to kick back and relax this summer by providing them with weekly opportunities to win branded gear ? such as trucker hats and shirts ? as well as the grand prize, a trip for two to the New York-based Bud Light Convention on August 27.

Bud Light will be giving away 416 instant win prizes to those who enter the sweepstakes on its mobile-optimized Rally for Happy Hour microsite. There, consumers must verify their age and input their name, email address and ZIP code into the entry form to partake in the weekly instant win contest.

Entrants can also opt in to receive Anheuser-Busch marketing emails, as well as a weekly reminder to put up an out of office memo and attend a happy hour event.

Individuals can ramp up their odds of winning by employing their Twitter accounts as well. Users who enter the contest on the microsite will have the option of posting or Tweeting a pre-populated message about the sweepstakes.

The post includes the hashtags #RallyforHappyHour and #Sweepstakes. Consumers who upload this message will earn one bonus entry.

?Social media tools allow consumers to put the gamification odds a bit more in their favor with bonus entries, while helping the brand get the word out on a wider scale,? Ms. Pollard said. ?Additionally, having a designated campaign hashtag unites a following, as it provides an identifiable mark to rally around.?

The campaign runs through August 12.

Fizzing up memorable experiences
By tying in happy hour reminders to the instant win sweepstakes, Bud Light is demonstrating that it keeps its fans? interests top-of-mind. The social media component will also help the brand garner more buzz for the campaign, a strategy likely to boost awareness among one of its core demographics, millennials.

Anheuser-Busch has been deploying mobile-first marketing approaches for its brands with increased fervor lately, underscoring the importance of reaching on-the-go consumers with memorable content.

Several months ago, Budweiser tapped mobile?s potential to bring consumer utility to high-profile Super Bowl ads with a site that made it easy to find the most convenient way home and supported the brand?s responsible driving message (see story).

Budweiser also spiked brand awareness prior to the Super Bowl by rolling out sponsored advertisements on Facebook featuring recipes for party snacks that consumers could make with its beer (see story).

?With the lines blurring between our work and home lives, Bud Light truly wants to be the brand that helps motivate everyone to get out of the office on time, enjoy a beer with friends, and pledge to bring back happy hour,? Ms. Pollard said.

?We?re hoping to reach the majority of our mobile-savvy target audience through the mobile-optimized site, and continue to encourage users to kick back and relax this summer.?