Natty Light is a value beer, meaning the brand must be scrappy to compete for attention. Big budget campaigns are not an option, so it’s essential for Natty to identify consumer insights and activate them through social campaigns that galvanize its community. So when the chance to leverage a NASCAR partnership was offered, the brand had to really make it count.

Between the cut-throat job market and crippling college debt that continues to grow, there’s never been more pressure on Natty's consumer when entering the real world.

Our challenge was to create a disruptive moment around this consumer challenge that:

Our consumer would love and engage with on social media

National media had never seen before

Stayed true to the values and personality of Natty Light

Use earned media to captivate national media attention through influential consumer lifestyle, national news and sports media titles to drive brand love.

Natty surveyed 1,000 employers in recruitment positions across the country, and discovered that employers receive over 80 ‘entry-level’ resumes every month – with many not those securing not even an initial interview, let alone a job.

Natty had the chance to create a custom branded NASCAR paint scheme, taking over the design for the #37 car at the South Point 400 in Las Vegas in September 2018. The South Point 400 is broadcast nationally – but NASCAR teams change their paint schemes all the time, with brands always looking for ways to disrupt the news cycle.

Natty hooked it up for one lucky graduate by putting their hard-earned qualifications on an epic resume paint scheme that wrapped Chris Buescher’s #37 race car.

This was a chance to help one of our consumers get in front of millions during a nationally televised race through a unique, irreverent creative execution.

Natty’s consumers are graduates that battle against the tide to try and score a job when they finish college. The key message of the PR strategy was continuing the brand’s platform of helping its young consumers with real-life problems.

Natty created a compelling narrative that could reach its core audience in a variety of different media. The story resonated with sports, consumer lifestyle, national and local news, food/drink, education and business press. The visual component of the story also meant it was a SLAM DUNK for broadcast media!

We released a call for resumes via Twitter with a purposely sloppy mock up of a generic resume on the car - an art direction style that suited the brand. It went wild!

The brand then followed up closer to the race by announcing the winner with their resume applied to the car itself before it hit the track on National TV.

This campaign had a three-pronged approach to maximize conversation, driving earned results into many different traditional/social segments:

Phase 1:

Natty puts a call out on Twitter, supported by a mock-up of a resume on a race car. This was pitched nationally and received pick all over the United States. The brand also mock-up the resumes of famous sports editors and influencers and tweeted at them for further traction.

Phase 2:

Natty revealed the paint scheme the week prior to the race with some fresh images of the winning resume. These images were picked up in the lead up to the big race, with both the winner and the brand spokesperson appearing on local and national TV news.

Phase 3:

The final piece of the execution was the on-site activation, with the winner attending the South Point 400. This closed out the weekend with a final burst of coverage.

100% positive in sentiment

75% of stories feature Natty Light in the headline

82 editorial placements

563M total monthly media impressions

18.4M social reach

Thousands of resumes from graduates across the country