Naturally, we approached the initiative like a political campaign – utilizing a combination of paid media, key sponsorships and partnerships, owned channels, and a good old fashioned road show in order to maximize earned value.

Spring Training represented the ideal timing for Bud to harness fan anticipation around Opening Day to effectively seed the petition across the most relevant baseball fan platforms. Working in combination with Ozzie as our ambassador, Budweiser leveraged their sponsorship of Opening Day broadcasts on ESPN, FS1 and Turner Sports as well as Social, Digital, On-Premise and In-Stadium to drive involvement with fans across the nation.

Ultimately, the White House responded and decided not to make Opening Day an official national holiday. However, the campaign was a resounding success as achieving our core objectives: creating a cultural movement that reinforced the brand’s authenticity and commitment to the sport and its fans, dominating headlines along the way.

102,000 signatures and an official White House response that included support for the game (“including President Obama, who will be rooting for his [team] to go all the way!”). Branded coverage in all MLB markets: 970 articles, 55 interviews. 239MM media impressions. A Facebook trending topic on Opening Day.