Home Advertiser Budweiser’s FIFA World Cup Sponsorship Is A First-Party Data Play

Budweiser’s FIFA World Cup Sponsorship Is A First-Party Data Play

SHARE:

Budweiser is bringing a first-party data approach to its FIFA World Cup sponsorship, a sign of shifting priorities for many marketers.

The brand, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, has always used a mix of first-, second- and third-party data for behavioral targeting.

But first-party data isn’t always easy to come by for consumer-packaged goods companies. Their retail partners typically own the direct relationship with shoppers.

Budweiser’s recent focus on direct-to-consumer marketing is part of a broader effort to generate more first-party data to power its marketing, said Todd Allen, Budweiser’s global VP of marketing.

Putting the “party” in first party

The brand’s latest global campaign, which launched in mid-September ahead of the World Cup, is part of this strategy.

The campaign features a 45-second spot that stars professional soccer players Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Raheem Sterling striding out to the field followed by a marching band, a parade and an entourage of screaming fans holding and clinking Budweiser beer bottles.

But a key element of the high-production commercial is actually the QR code that appears on screen at the end directing users to a promotion of limited-edition beer on Budweiser’s website. The limited-edition bottles and cans have a second QR code on them that people can scan for the chance to win tickets to the match.

It’s become a trend among marketers to go overboard with their branding to help fill in first-party data gaps by eliciting sign-ups or purchases with personalized promotions. (In that vein, during the pandemic, Budweiser actually produced a literal gaming console shaped like a six-pack that cools beers, which it auctioned off for charity.)

In addition to the QR codes and limited-edition merchandise, Budweiser’s World Cup campaign includes NFTs (don’t ask us about the “Budverse”) and live promotions at a hotel in Qatar that Budweiser is taking over for the duration of the games.

Advertising alcohol online is restricted in Muslim majority countries, which creates more of a need for on-site marketing that can garner more first-party data to help inform the rest of the campaign.

Subscribe

AdExchanger Daily

Get our editors’ roundup delivered to your inbox every weekday.

Lager for later 

Direct-to-consumer marketing drives sales, but it can also help generate first-party data.

Budweiser’s goal with its World Cup campaign is to sell one billion bottles and cans with limited-edition branding and QR code activations, and in so doing simultaneously fill its purchase funnel with first-party data.

Budweiser can use this data for retargeting to keep viewers engaged and buying beer for the duration of the World Cup, Allen said, which runs for about a month.

Consumers share first-party data when they interact with Budweiser’s DTC offerings online, including by scanning product QR codes, creating an account on Budweiser’s site, entering the sweepstakes for free tix or making a purchase for a beer delivery. Budweiser can also collect other signals that speak to purchase intent, like engagement with the brand on search or social.

Budweiser is also integrated with several global delivery platforms (Gorillas in the UK, Zé in Brazil and TaDa in Columbia and Argentina) and its marketing promises 30-minute beer delivery to promote the limited-edition products.

The campaign’s main spot is running on TV, streaming, radio and out-of-home as the branding vehicle that drives viewers down the purchase funnel and ultimately to online checkout.

But the effort is also designed to collect data that can be used to reach consumers with performance media across SMS, email, search and social to drive conversions.

The campaign is a full-funnel one designed to drive new reach and sales for the brand at the same time, Allen said.

Must Read

Netflix Boasts Its Best Ad Sales Quarter Ever (Again)

In a livestreamed presentation to investors on Tuesday, co-CEO Greg Peters shared that Netflix had its “best ad sales quarter ever” in Q3, and more than doubled its upfront commitments for this year.

Comic: No One To Play With

Google Pulls The Plug On Topics, PAAPI And Other Major Privacy Sandbox APIs (As The CMA Says ‘Cheerio’)

Google’s aborted cookie crackdown ends with a quiet CMA sign-off and a sweeping phaseout of Privacy Sandbox technologies, from the Topics API to PAAPI.

The Trade Desk’s Auction Evolutions Bring High Drama To The Prebid Summit

TTD shared new details about OpenAds features that let publishers see for themselves whether it’s running a fair auction. But tension between TTD and Prebid hung over the event.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters
Monopoly Man looks on at the DOJ vs. Google ad tech antitrust trial (comic).

How Google Stands In The DOJ’s Ad Tech Antitrust Suit, According To Those Who Tracked The Trial

The remedies phase of the Google antitrust trial concluded last week. And after 11 days in the courtroom, there is a clearer sense of where Judge Leonie Brinkema is focused on, and how that might influence what remedies she put in place.

The Ad Context Protocol Aims To Make Sense Of Agentic Ad Demand

The AI advertising agents will need their own trade group eventually. For now though, a bunch of companies are forming the Ad Context Protocol, or AdCP.

OUTFRONT Is Using Agencies’ AI Enthusiasm To Spur Wider Programmatic OOH Adoption

The desire for a data-driven reinvention of OOH inspired OUTFRONT to create agentic AI tools for executing and measuring OOH campaigns and comparing OOH to other channels.