Michelob Ultra is a low-calorie beer (perfect for athletes) with the tagline “It’s Only Worth It If You Enjoy It.” It believes all athletes—including women—should be able to enjoy their sport equally. But only 4% of media covers women’s sports. If we wanted to address the unequal pay that women athletes receive vs. the men, we needed to address the lack of visibility first.

It’s hard to change what broadcast media covers, but influencing what we consume in social media is easier. So, Michelob needed to come up with a social-first idea that could increase visibility, change people’s behavior to see more women athletes, and ultimately close the gap in sports.

Michelob’s “Save It, See It” campaign encouraged fans to hack the Instagram algorithm by hitting the SAVE button instead of LIKES on women’s sports content (highlights videos, athlete’s posts, news, etc.). Because saves are the most powerful form of engagement on social media, saved women’s sports content hyper-targeted users and their followers. This meant that every time someone pressed “save”, they saw more women’s sports. Increased visibility = more sponsors, contracts, and opportunities for women athletes.

The campaign featured WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, ESPN Analyst Andraya Carter, and the first openly trans NCAA Track & Field champion Cece Telfer. It was supported on social media by both male and female athletes like Jimmy Butler, Serena Williams, and Alex Morgan, creating a social tidal wave of impact to the algorithm, all while getting everyone to tap Michelob Ultra’s logo on IG in the process.

We found out that saves are more important than likes in social media’s algorithm, because when you save a post, you’re telling Instagram that you want to go back and see that post later. So the algorithm will boost posts that are saved more than liked. And it’s a coincidence that the save button happens to look like Michelob’s logo—a brand that stands for all athletes to enjoy their sport equally.

So, our key message was simple: press “save” on women’s sports content on social media instead of just “liking” them.

We partnered up with top male and female athletes from soccer, golf, basketball, and tennis all around the world—including the likes of Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, and Anthony Davis to start and amplify a conversation about women’s sports inequality. This came to life in online films, Instagram stories, posts, tweets, stickers, and filters on their social media.

On Women’s Equality Day, Michelob’s “Save It, See It” campaign launched with an online film which not only started our movement to hit “save” on women’s sports content, but it also launched our $100 million brand commitment to women athletes.

Short content, Instagram Stories, GIFs and stickers based on our online film continued to be promoted for the rest of 2021 during the NFL, NBA, MLS, and US Open games. At the same time, professional athletes (both men and women) supported the campaign on social media domestically in the US and internationally (Canada, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador)—including the likes of all time greats like Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, Anthony Davis, etc.

Michelob made a $100 million commitment to women’s sports. That donation would go to the Women’s Sports Foundation, funding travel costs for young women athletes who can’t afford it, and equal representation in ALL of Michelob’s advertising and partners.

We saw a 2498% increase in saves on women athletes’ content on social media, according to the metrics of our partner athlete’s content—which proves that people who saw our campaign engaged with our message.

$100 million commitment to women’s sports. Part of that money was donated to the Women’s Sports Foundation, which helps fund emerging women athletes from all ages, racial backgrounds, and sexual orientation. Another part is dedicated to equal pay in sports and equal representation of men and women athletes in all of Michelob’s advertising.

It is “the largest financial commitment by any brand to women’s sports,” according to Forbes.

The Save It, See It movement was covered by Forbes, CNN, Fox, USA Today, People Magazine, Hypebeast, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBA, WNBA, etc.

Our campaign was supported and shared by professional athletes across the world from different sports, including soccer, basketball, tennis, running, golf, and more.