Over 40 years, Budweiser had become one of the UK’s biggest-selling beers (#4 on-trade/off-trade combined) with incredible brand awareness (#1 penetration, 97% name recognition).

But it needed an image makeover. UK consumers bought Bud, but they weren’t in love with it, they saw it as mainstream, American and mass-produced.

To rebuild that emotional connection, Budweiser wanted to position itself as an underrated, quality pilsner that was culturally switched on – stylish; perhaps even a little edgy, primed to connect with a younger, more cosmopolitan audience and potential buyer.

To assist, it was partnering with Sir Peter Blake, creator of The Beatles’ iconic Sergeant Pepper cover and legend of British Pop Art to create a limited edition can.

Our Brief? Explode this collaboration to drive sustained earned coverage and cultural relevance, bringing a design maven to the masses.

Our solution: We would treat a limited-edition work by a celebrated British artist the way it ought to be treated – as a collector’s piece. This was not just a can of beer. This was a work of art.

Cue: Red ropes, gallery attendants in white cotton gloves, queues for “viewings,” and a dramatic unveiling of the work. A single can, proudly displayed behind illuminated framed glass, hanging on its own “gallery” wall.

In honour of Blake’s commitment to accessibility, the gallery would be a specially designed pop-up. Art brought out of the elitist, white-walled academy and into London’s streets.

The frame would not just be any frame. We would commission a world first in bespoke design: a refrigerated picture frame, keeping the can at a constant, refreshing 5ºC, so it could be hung on the wall like any great artwork, but still be kept chilled, like any great beer.

Our brief was to attract a young, fashionable crowd, so we would locate our “gallery” in the East London district where style and youth meet: Shoreditch, home to Banksy street art, design studios, galleries, the towering Truman Brewery (icon of East London beer) and a huge weekend footfall of young creatives. Media would likewise target art and design magazines, rarefied publications that rarely previously considered Budweiser.

We would engage a boutique company to precision-engineer our fridge frame – an intricate technical challenge (because refrigeration elements demand weight and bulk, but the frame had to hang on walls and present the illusion of a 2D picture) and a daunting artistic assignment: Since this would contextualise his work, we dearly wanted it to win Sir Peter’s approval.

The “exhibit” would then be supported by simultaneous social campaigns (Instagram, Facebook) and, in the ensuing weeks, complementary live activations to keep the buzz going.

Through ingenious adaptations, we successfully delivered a lightweight, working fridge frame at just 20cm depth, with some beautiful extra touches (e.g., a built-in mount to complete the “picture” illusion, and hinges so that the frame opened like a fridge door). We were honoured when Blake greenlit our enhancement to his masterpiece.

Then, over one March weekend, the “unveiling” took place. Our “gallery staff” insisted on reverent silence around Blake’s work and, every hour, opened the frame to present one of 10 Budweiser cans, hand-signed by Blake, to a queuing member of the public. The line soon stretched around the block, especially when walking tours of Shoreditch’s street art began including us as a new stop.

Like any gallery, we will now temporarily loan the exhibit out. To pubs nationwide, to real galleries, and to fans registering interest on our microsite, enabling them to turn their living rooms into art installations.

The activation captured the public’s imagination, driving footfall of 2,000 people per hour and landing media placements (combined reach: 88M) including art/design magazines Apollo and Dieline and key nationals The Times, The Sun and Daily Express.

Social reach was 1.25M (huge for a very lean spend on one, highly geo-specific activation) and broadened Budweiser’s reach to art enthusiasts even further (e.g., @graypopartist: “Excited for this. I so want a Peter Blake can!”).

But the most impressive results have been in sales, a 22% uplift vs. the regular cans over the same period. And, just four weeks post-activation, we’re already seeing ripple effects: A Paris gallery is now showing our installation; the cans are trading on eBay as collectors’ items; and The Design Museum (the library of record for British artisanship) is currently discussing acquiring the entire exhibit as the signature representation of Blake’s life’s work,  quite the accolade for everyone.