In 2012 Bud worked with brand ambassador Jay Z to put together a stellar festival which they sponsored and owned. They also came up with the neat idea of streaming the entire festival through both You Tube and Pandora mobile sites/apps.
This year they have gone even further by really getting behind the scenes of artists and what made them successful along with presenting them in cool ways for only 60-120 seconds, all on your mobile.
Last year was Jay Z himself and Pearl Jam, this year Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails and contemporary bands like British acts Imagine Dragons and AlunaGeorge.
The smart thing they have done is ensured that everything is first and foremost available on their app and their mobile site. They have also thought about how people watch music and engage with content on a mobile, bite-sized chunks at time-killing points of the day. On the MRT, on the bus, waiting for a friend, on an escalator, in a lift etc.
The universal language of music is communicated through social mobile platforms to reinforce Bud’s positive association with music and engage with the target audience where they are spending time, on their mobile engaging with social media sites. The brand association changes Bud’s perception of being old and traditional into the contemporary and hip category.
The Bud site will churn out a series of content themes that use photos and videos to convey specific themes about the music artists performing at their festival in August. One is the “Made In A Minute” content theme which will show 60-second videos that tells short stories about the journeys of artists. Fascinating and simple. Compelling and exclusive content.
Another content theme is with gig posters featuring a series of virtual posters that include quotes and photos from band members. You can download these and turned them into ongoing Bud adverts which become your mobile background and reinforces the brand and content association.
Consumers are also sharing music with friends and family via mobile to find new artists and music that they would not know about otherwise. “Given the nature of consumers today, people watch, enjoy and most importantly share on their mobile devices,” according to Global Marketing Director Kathy Sattler.
“Allowing fans to access video and content on their mobile device was crucial,” she said. “Before launching we did a week of testing with unpublished posts in which we saw that 90 percent of engagements happened in mobile and, specifically, mobile video outperformed desktop video.”
Simple and effective use of content engagement doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel to be compelling and engaging. Bud have shown a cool and simple way of doing this effectively while also reinforcing their American brand values.