Bud Light // Underplayed Documentary (2020)
In Canada, Bud Light exists to be the most inclusive beer brand because the party is always better if everyone is invited. This feature-length documentary directed by Stacey Lee spotlights the gender disparity in the EDM scene, as well as the blatant exclusion of female DJ’s and producers. This is a significant problem despite EDM starting as a safe space for those that didn’t belong. The film features the personal stories and battles fought by Rezz, Alison Wonderland, Tygapaw, TOKiMONSTA, Nervo and Anna Lunoe. The film was accepted in the Tribeca Film Festival and premiered at TIFF on Sept. 19th, 2020.
Budweiser // 4 Super Bowls, 7 Wins // (2014-2017)
During my time as the strategic lead on Budweiser’s global business, I was also focused on its most challenged market - the U.S. As a legacy market with massive volume potential, my attention was on recruiting young drinkers by building brand affinity through cultural and occasion strategy. And a key cultural moment to build the brand was Super Bowl. Through brand storytelling and savvy comms strategy, the strategic playbook was created to execute successful Super Bowl programs - a playbook brands still follow today.
‘Puppy Love’ (2014) & ‘Lost Dog’ (2015)
This two-part series over two Super Bowls stole America’s heart and is still crowned one of the best Super Bowl spots of all time (and the most watched on YouTube). The best part? These gems won the Super Bowl before airing on game day. The comms strategy was designed to create and ride the cultural wave. Though teasers, exclusive premiere drops, influencers, digital media and a real-time tweeting puppy, this story earned culture’s attention. Good boy.
Press Love
‘Hero’s Welcome’ (2015)
We wanted to make a film that captured a real and meaningful moment. So, to kickoff a year-long partnership with the U.S. Military, we partnered with the veterans of Winter Park Florida to give a proper welcome home parade to 24-year-old Lt. Chuck Nadd, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and operations officer for the Army who served in Afghanistan.
‘Brewed the Hard Way’ // The Return of ‘This Bud’s For You’ (2015)
Alongside our tribute to proud drinkers with ‘Hero’s Welcome’, the strategic decision was made to honor how Budweiser is brewed - the hard way. By defining who Budweiser is brewed for, it drew a line in the sand. This was bigger than a swing at craft. It ushered in the return of ‘This Bud’s For You’ to proudly define Budweiser by the values it shares with its drinkers on America’s stage.
‘Not Backing Down’ & ‘Simply Put’ (2016)
Amid a declining category of mass domestic beers due to the loss of young drinkers, strategy led a decision to launch a new chapter of being proud and unapologetic. In the face of Budweiser being culturally stereotyped, misunderstood and a beer people loved to hate, we defined who we were by stating everything we were not - small and pretentious. Bud also cares more - about its beer and its drinkers. To prove that, we executed the most talked about anti-drunk driving message with Dame Helen Mirren. We told people to #GiveADamn. This message was designed after strategy uncovered that drunk driving increases up to 70% on Super Bowl Sunday. The declaration also leveraged a partnership with ride shares to get people home safely.
Press Love
‘Born the Hard Way’ (2017)
This is the story of the brand's co-founder Adolphus Busch's 1857 journey from Germany to St. Louis. During a politically charged time of executive orders preventing immigration, this story championed the American Dream. The campaign swept the country causing a massive debate, and even a social media call for a boycott of Bud because of its modern values. Check out a quote from me in Time and coverage in the Atlantic. It’s also the only project I’ve worked on that got its own wikipedia page. I swear it wasn’t us.
Budweiser // AmeriCAN (2016)
With the run-up to the U.S. election and the Rio Summer Olympics, we created a bold program in partnership with JKR. By renaming the brand to ‘America’ for the summer of 2016 we set out to celebrate and debate American identity. It ended up causing quite a controversy. Some lovers and some haters, but regardless we dominated cultural conversation. Check out some articles in Fast Company, Business Insider and U.S. Today.
‘Bloodweiser’ // Global Halloween Program (2016 & 2017)
Tasked with an ambitious goal to create sales-driving opportunities in China, I authored a white paper to identify an annual consumption moment for young Chinese drinkers - Halloween. Guinness owns St. Paddy’s day, so why couldn’t Budweiser dominate an occasion by helping export something as culturally and economically significant as Halloween?
The strategic white paper analysis led to a program that sold beer and fear - driven by the insight that nothing is more fearless for young drinkers than a night of liberated self expression, one Halloween provides. The strategy unlocked drinking rituals (i.e. Bloodweiser) and a Sleep No More style experiential and in-bar costume activations in addition to a national campaign in China.
The program led to a 12% lift in sales as well as significantly growing Budweiser’s image as an international beer brand - a key mission for the China market. It also became a global program and toolkit for markets beyond China.
Buds & Burgers // Searching for America’s Next Great Burger Chef (2015)
It all began with a simple data point: nearly half of Budweiser’s consumption moments are with a burger. Strategy jumped on this and designed a plan to dominate the occasion by creating America’s perfect pairing. And dominate we did. The idea included a partnership with David Chang, a burger cook-off championship, a national sampling program, an in-bar program, and a big-rig food truck that transformed into a traveling event space, bar and grill. The program led to one of Budweiser’s most successful summers in a decade. Check out our coverage in Fast Company.