Dive Brief:
- Bud Light Seltzer is hosting a new virtual weekly music series called the Bud Light Seltzer Sessions: Your Flavor. Your Show, the company shared with Marketing Dive.
- Bachata artists Romeo Santos and Aventura, as well as Latin pop singer Karol G, will kick off the series on Friday May 8 at 9 p.m. ET. The series will be livestreamed on Bud Light's YouTube channel every week throughout May and will benefit the American Red Cross by encouraging viewers to contribute to the organization through donations or volunteering. The show will also promote Bud Light's Open for Takeout initiative that urges homebound consumers to support local bars and restaurants by ordering from these small businesses.
- Bud Light is teaming with Drizly to distribute codes for free home delivery of beer and in-store displays near partners Tostitos, Clamato and Tajin for a Cinco de Mayo tie-up.
Dive Insight:
Bud Light is running this campaign to stay connected with consumers during the pandemic shutdowns and as people extend their celebrations of Cinco de Mayo into the weekend.
The music series comes at a time when summer concert series would normally begin and people would be out at bars and restaurants drinking Bud Light and its seltzer offering. To encourage consumers to recreate this experience at home and inspire beverage sales, the Anheuser-Busch brand is hosting virtual concerts with popular artists that align with the summer theme. In doing so, the brand has an opportunity reach these artists' wider online followings. Fans are invited to suggest the color of the set and request songs before the weekly events take place.
Romeo Santos and Aventura were scheduled for a reunion tour this summer, but their shows have been postponed along with many others. Bud Light Seltzer can help please their fans by giving them a glimpse of what this long-awaited reunion will look like. Karol G, who counts 800 million views on YouTube and ranks high on Spotify globally, was also planning a tour that was canceled.
Weekly Bud Light Seltzer Sessions not only help boost the spirits of consumers in lockdown, they also offer the brand a platform to push its charitable associations. By promoting helpful causes such as American Red Cross and its Open for Takeout initiative, the company is showing its good will and support of the community during the current global health crisis.
The strategy may help Bud Light Seltzer to appeal to conscious consumers. Brands that address the pandemic in ads and show how they're helping out have received high scores on Ace Metrix's ad ranking system. Anheuser-Busch's One Team ranked No. 3 on the company's latest analysis.
