We selected a UFC fan from our Bud Light Living App and created a narrative that announced him as the new Bud Light Living champion to millions of followers. Tommy Wauchope, our lucky winner, thought he had only won tickets to a UFC event in Montreal, but we surprised him by fully integrating him throughout an entire fight event. It started with an announcement from Dana White, President of UFC, who signed Tommy as a new fighter with his own official fighter page. The experience grew in intensity over the course of the week. From training with champs to a wing-eating contest, a spectrum of experiences culminated in an incredible fight night where Tommy was integrated throughout the broadcast and his image was used on the fighters’ uniforms. This was a first in professional sports and had fans around the world buzzing who this new champion was.

The overall effort was time sensitive since festivities started mid-week and the fight event happened on a single night. Speed played a crucial role in our approach. We had to deliver a real-time story in a way that could achieve reach in just days.

We intentionally informed our winner Tommy that he had won tickets to the event four weeks in advance of the fight. This allowed us to take his picture for “promotional purposes” and repurpose them throughout the program. We used those images and created broadcast graphics, printed his name and face on 8 fighter uniforms, and asked UFC fighters to deliver personalized messages throughout the event to create shock value for Tommy while fuelling intrigue with viewers.

We had different influencers pushing out messages as experiences were happening to Tommy. The frequency of messages from different sources created a mass wave of chatter around who Tommy was.

The activation achieved so much success it has now become a global best practice for Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) and is considered a communications model for other markets to follow given its wide spread impact.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES:

1) Drive brand preference with 19- to 29-year-old men by 5%.

ACHIEVED: Increased top 3 preference by 35%.

2) Increase weekly consumption +5%.

ACHIEVED: Increased ‘past 4 week’ consumption by 23%.

3) Create social conversation around Bud Light Living and the UFC.

ACHIEVED: The program generated 8.1MM Canadian earned impressions (total Canadian population is 35MM) and over 88.4MM earned impressions globally.

The program trended in Canada and was picked up in the UK, Japan, Brazil, and the United States. Overall, 80% of all impressions for the program were organic.

This wasn’t just any experience: it was the ultimate experience for a UFC fan, courtesy of Bud Light.