Energy BBDO has crafted a new ad for Bud Light — the latest in its “Perfect Beer For Whatever Happens” campaign — which highlights the brand’s new packaging while positioning it as “12 ounces of inspiration.” The ad will run nationally beginning January 1st during the college football playoffs and continuing to run throughout the NFL playoffs.
Entitled “The Journey to Whatever,” the ad begins with the brewing process. “This is where crisp, light, refreshing Bud Light happens,” begins the voiceover, “but it is right here that it becomes an invitation.” At this point the camera zooms in on the bottle (which reads “The perfect beer for singing loud, even if you don’t know the words”) and lingers as an arrow points out the text on the label.
The spot follows in the campaign’s positioning of the brand as a muse for spontaneous good times, yet also spends some time focusing on the product itself with the portrayal of the brewing process and close-up shots of the beer. That anyone would be swayed to believe Bud Light is a beer of any kind of quality is pretty laughable, so the first few seconds spent with the process of “crafting” the brew don’t accomplish much. The packaging, of course, is the campaign’s real selling point and the lingering shot of the bottle works well to introduce the idea. The new packaging will eventually feature over 100 different messages touting the brand as the “perfect beer” for varying occasions. As you may remember, another brand in the category, Miller Lite, recently rolled out vintage packaging in an attempt to combat waning sales.
“While the big brands are still big, the little guys are cooler and hipper,” Carol Philips, president of brand strategy consulting firm Brand Amplitude, told AdAge. “So if you are a big brand, you’ve got to do the things that only big brands can do. A little brand can’t do this.”