Dos Equis searches social media for the 'Most Interesting Fan of College Football'

Dive Brief:

Heineken USA's Dos Equis brand is playing off its long-running "Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign to find the "Most Interesting Fan of College Football," according to a company press release. Dos Equis is returning this season as the Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff with a broader "Game Day Over Everything" campaign.
The current Most Interesting Man spokesperson, played by the French actor Augustin Legrand, and comedian Ron Riggle star in a digital video spot kicking off the push — Riggle is eager to be considered a candidate for most interesting fan — and the search will be focused on social media with the hashtag #MostInterestingFanSearch. The winner of the Most Interesting Fan title will get a life-sized sculpture in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The campaign runs from Sept. 2 to Nov. 14, and consumers 21 and older can enter by sharing photos, videos or a tweet stating why they are the ultimate college football fan on Twitter and Instagram or at DosEquis.com. Two finalists will be chosen and both will get round-trip travel for two to the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 8, 2018. Only the winner will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA, however, at an exclusive Dos Equis event on Jan. 7, 2018.

Dive Insight:

The promotion ties together a couple of larger marketing pieces for Dos Equis, through both its returning sponsorship of the College Football Playoff and its now years-long Most Interesting Man in the World campaign. While the Most Interesting Man has gone through some cosmetic changes in recent years — Legrand replaced Jonathan Goldsmith in the role around this time last year — he remains one of the more immediately-recognizable and quotable brand mascots in advertising today.

However, while the Most Interesting Man largely rose to prominence on the strength of Goldsmith's TV spots and iconic catchphrase, the newfangled approach to the campaign puts a more pointed emphasis on digital tie-ins. This was evident when Legrand was announced, not just through TV ads and digital video, but also via Snapchat integrations. The Most Interesting Fan of College Football push demonstrates that Dos Equis still highly values social media channels as a means to drive engagement and put its beer top-of-mind with young consumers of legal drinking age.

College football fans are a highly-energized, engaged audience — few things pair better with watching football than drinking beer — and they will likely jump at the opportunity to have their name "immortalized" through a real-life statue in the Hall of Fame, a fairly distinctive reward for this type of contest.

The effort is also interesting as the future of the Most Interesting Man hangs in question. Havas, which first created the campaign in 2006, recently lost its business with Dos Equis to Droga5, which is expected to start work as creative agency for the brand next year, per The Drum. Omnicom's Red Urban created the Game Day Over Everything effort.