Stella Artois raises funds for local bars to remind consumers 'there's always an after'

Dive Brief:

Anheuser-Busch beer brand Stella Artois is running a social media campaign to raise funds for small businesses affected by Covid-19, the company shared with Marketing Dive.
The effort centers around a new video spot that plays up the beermaker's 600 year history and notes that "there is always an after" to a crisis. The video calls on people to purchase vouchers to use at small businesses to help local bars and restaurants survive the pandemic's financial impacts. Stella promises to double the credit of the voucher by matching the value of the purchase for when consumers can use these credits after the public health emergency subsides.
Over the past three weeks, Stella has run these fundraising efforts in more than 10 countries, raising over $2.5 million. Independent advertising agency Gut collaborated on the effort.

Dive Insight:

Stella Artois is playing up its history in this push to help put today's crisis in perspective. The company has survived its share of global disasters and wars over 600 years, and the new ad aims to remind people of the strength that surfaces in humanity after a crisis passes.

Local restaurants and bars around the globe, some of which serve Stella Artois beer, are struggling economically during the global shutdowns. The beermaker's latest effort aims to help these small businesses weather the storm by raising an income today that consumers can take advantage of in the future.

"If we know something at Stella Artois, as a brand with more than 600 years of beer tradition in the world, it is that there is always an after," Juan Giovaneli, brand director for Stella Artois Argentina, said in a statement.

The campaign follows a similar Bud Light initiative in which the other Anheuser-Busch beer brand created a digital tracker to help people find local bars and restaurants that remain open for takeout orders amid the pandemic. Bud Light: Open for Takeout helps consumers track down bars and restaurants in their area through the hashtag #OpenForTakeout. That effort also is designed to help local businesses stay afloat during these tough times through income from takeout orders.

If these businesses can stay open after the crisis, beer brands like Stella Artois and Bud Light may have more venues in which to sell their beer and potentially longer-term brand loyalty from both bars and patrons, who are likely looking for reassuring messaging.